The Goddess of Wisdom
by Athena Sapphire
Summary: Self-insert. A teenager, transported into the world of KotOR, chooses the name of a goddess as her cover. Can she live up to the name? (It's better than it sounds, I promise). Rated for language. LSF RevanxCarth
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: Don't own any of this, characters, planets, etc. etc. etc. If i did, would I really be writing fanfiction? **

**A/N: Now that that's over with, hello everyone! This is my first fic, so if you review, try to be nice. The prologue isn't really all that interesting, so I've posted chapter 1, too. The entire thing is already written, I'll be posting a new chapter once a week. Caeli is pronounced like Kaylee. If you have any other pronunciation questions (some of my names are a bit weird) just ask. Happy reading!**

Prologue

I sighed heavily as I contemplated my life. If you could even call it a life. I was bored out of my mind, and I couldn't think of a single thing that would change that. My brother was off working at summer camp, my best friend Kayleigh had just left to go back home to Missouri, and I was stuck in my house without even my laptop, seeing as our school confiscated them at the end of every year (I suppose it was really the school's, not mine, but I still thought of it that way). Add to that the fact that it was two o'clock in the morning, you might as well call me crazy. I probably shouldn't have been awake, but I wasn't in the mood for sleeping.

I decided to take the risk I'd been debating in my mind for about an hour and a half. I got quietly out of bed, picked up the _Star Wars: Best of PC_ box that was sitting on top of my dresser, and sneaked across the upstairs landing to our office room, the room with the desktop. I decided to start my next KotOR playthrough. Except this time, I would create a character, rather than powering through as I usually did. She would have personality, reasons for doing certain things. And yes, the personality was a bit limited by the dialogue options, but I would do whatever I could. I'd tried once before, but that had been mostly my 'try things out that I'm curious about' playthrough. I'd settled on my Revan this time though. And that wasn't going to change.

I booted up the desktop (thankfully my parents trusted me enough to leave it logged on, because I didn't have the password and asking them would probably not be the best idea at 2 in the morning) and inserted the disc, plugging my headphones into the computer. I really did not want to take any crap from my parents right now. Had I only known that was the least of my problems, maybe I would have reconsidered.

As it was, I loaded the game, preparing my character as I had done the last time I'd played. I was a female scout, my portrait had French-braided red hair with gray eyes, and her name was Caeli Jayde. I began playing through the Endar Spire, annoyed with Trask, as usual, relieved as always when he finally decided to run pointlessly into the room with Darth Bandon in it. No losses there.

It was when Carth said "_Bastila's escape pod's already gone"_ that strange things started happening. Unfortunately for me, the strange things weren't anything good. My computer started to make odd noises. At first, I brushed it off as normal static. Then a bolt of electricity shot out of the computer itself and hit the chair next to my knee, leaving a singed hole in the fabric of the cushion. Another singed my shoulder. I decided it was in my best interest to leave the room. Don't get me wrong. I was in no way thinking straight enough to have such a good vocabulary at the time. My thoughts were more like _I am so screwed I'd better get out of here before I fucking die._

All the same, when I tried to lift my hands from the keyboard and push my chair as far away from the desk as it would go, I discovered I couldn't move. Not the paralyzed-with-fear kind of not move, the literal type of paralysis. I was incapable of moving a single muscle. Only my eyes could dart back and forth in terror. That's when I looked down.

A string of electricity was emitting from the computer, and it had already wrapped around my left foot and was circling around my calf. The strange thing was, it didn't hurt. Or maybe I was just too freaked out to notice the pain. Either way, all I could do was watch as it twisted around my entire body, binding me with what seemed to be shimmering thread, arcing down my arms and surrounding my fingers, lifting them imperceptibly so it wouldn't touch the keyboard. Then it got to my neck, and I started to feel a tingling sensation in the rest of my body, almost the sensation I got when my foot fell asleep, just… my entire body.

Then it started circling around my head, and then the light was over my eyes, and it was blinding white, and that was when I felt the pain. Pain everywhere for what must have been less than two seconds but felt more like two hours. And then nothing. Absolute, undeniable nothing.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Still don't own this. And I've even found a reason to be happy about it: if I owned it, it wouldn't be half as good. **

**A/N: Don't really have anything new to add. Happy reading!**

Chapter One

Splitting headache. Sore limbs. Agonized muscles. And then blinding light. My eyes snapped back shut immediately. My body was in enough pain without being blinded as well.

"Are you all right?" The voice sounded strange, echo-y, and vaguely British.

"Why would I be?" I managed to groan.

"I managed to heal your more serious injuries," echoed the voice.

"Well I'm not used to serious injuries," I muttered darkly. "Any non-serious injuries I may have feel pretty serious to me. And I can't _stand_ headaches."

"Who are you?" The voice almost sounded irritated, but it was hard to distinguish tones with so much echo. It seemed to be fading, but there was still a significant amount.

"As far as I'm concerned, the only question that's going to be answered is _where the hell am I_?" I informed the voice. "And maybe, just for good measure, _how the hell did I get here?"_

"There's no need for language," scolded the voice.

"You kidding me? Tell me where I am and then I'll be the judge of that."

"We," said the voice, "are being held prisoner by a swoop gang in the Lower City of Taris."

_What?_

"Excuse me?" I managed, opening my eyes a crack to squint at the person who was claiming to be my cellmate.

"I believe they're known as the Black Vulkars," said the young woman. Her voice was much less echo-y now, and it was starting to sound familiar.

"And who are you?"

"My name is Bastila Shan."

_Okay. Stop right there. Either I've lost my mind, I'm dreaming, or this is actually happening. I can pretty much rule out option three. Unless… well, that thing with the electricity coming out of my desktop was weird, but that doesn't mean it can somehow… magically teleport me to KotOR-land or something._

"Oo-kaaaaay," I said, drawing out the word to represent my confusion. "And you're here exactly…why?"

Bastila drew herself up haughtily. "I am here because I was captured when my escape pod crashed in the Undercity."

"Escape pod? So you were in the space battle? Are you with the Republic?"

She looked up sharply. I'd probably said too much. Shit. I'd never been good at lying on the fly. I specifically remembered my mother saying something about my nose growing the last time I'd tried that. I was only good at lying if I'd prepared myself. Which, in this case, I definitely hadn't.

"How do you know about the space battle? And why do you assume I'm with the Republic?"

Here goes some half-assed lying. And she was a Jedi, so she'd probably know anyway. Worth a shot, though.

"I was, uh, hanging around in the Lower City Cantina. I heard some of the bounty hunters talking about looting crashed escape pods from the space battle." There were already gaping holes in my story, but I had no choice but to go with it. "A friend and I decided to come check it out. Last thing I remember is heading around the Undercity with him. He went on ahead, to check for rakghouls because I suck at combat of any sort, and then I blacked out and woke up here. I'm guessing your escape pod crashed on us." Honestly, if my story was any more unlikely, it would be the truth. I really wasn't good at this.

Bastila narrowed her eyes. "And just who are you?"

Code name time. I'd always failed at coming up with Star Wars names. I debated using one from a fanfiction I'd read, but something held me back. The thought of fanfiction, however, triggered a chain reaction that led to—

"Athena Sapphire," I told her.

"I see," said the Jedi in that condescending tone I hated so much. "Well, perhaps now you're awake we can discuss a plan for our escape."

I sat up and looked around. I almost swore. The place was almost a suite (as far as cells go). It had two cots that might have passed as beds, one of which I was lying in, and a side door leading to a bathroom. I'll admit, I always felt kind of bad for Bastila because she had to be held prisoner by the Vulkars and subjected to horrible conditions that always precede being sold into slavery, but really? Okay, maybe it wasn't a suite, but it was definitely much nicer than I had always thought.

Instead of swearing my head off, I turned back to Bastila. "'Awake' and 'functional' are two entirely different matters, princess," I said irritably. "One of which I am, the other of which I am decidedly _not._"

"Perhaps that's better in the long run," she shot back haughtily. "I will surely be able to formulate a better plan of attack than a mere _child._"

"Hey! I resent that!" I snapped back. My thoughts flickered to one of my friends, but I suppressed it almost instantly. I could worry about that later. "I'm sixteen! And I'm fine with coming up with plans. I'm just not fantastic at executing them. And who do you think you are, anyway?" I almost sang Jar of Hearts under my breath, but I resisted the urge. I had bigger problems. Like a certain stuck-up, prissy little Jedi.

"I," she drew herself up again, "am a Jedi. And—"

"See, my point exactly," I muttered. "I don't know if I made my point aloud, but if you're a Jedi on some planet you don't know much about, you don't go strutting about proclaiming your identity to complete strangers. I _hope_ you didn't tell the Vulkars, hoping for their respect. That would be a stupid move on your part. If my information is correct, the Vulkars aren't picky about intergalactic slavery and, well, a Jedi would fetch quite a price. Even if you'd probably be almost impossible to control. I'm sure there's _someone_ out there who would buy you. The Sith, maybe? I'm sure the Vulkars aren't picky who they sell their prisoners to, and they'd get a huge fee for you, so as far as they're concerned it's a done deal."

"How do you know the Sith are looking for me?" asked the Jedi, looking more unnerved by the minute.

"I may only be sixteen, but I know things. Or maybe I just said that to unnerve you, hoping you'd give me more information. You never know with people, as obviously you do not realize. Have you _never_ been away from your sheltered little Enclave? Welcome to real life, princess."

Her eyes narrowed, and she inhaled sharply as though to retort, but a lock clicked in the door and a deadbolt slid back. The door squeaked open. Clearly they didn't have WD-40 in the Lower City of Taris.

A guard entered the room. One of the typical Vulkars, the ones you never saw with the Beks. I couldn't remember the name of the species… Nikko, or something like that. No, Nikto. That was it.

Either way, he started speaking. Or, I guess he was speaking. I couldn't tell. Not having ever learned any languages in the Star Wars universe other than a few insults in Mando'a, I was not extremely well prepared for this. Besides, even if I had actually tried to pick up meaning from the alien dialogue in KotOR, it wouldn't have made any difference. Very few aliens got custom dialogue: Ajuur, the Hutt in charge of the dueling ring, and Gluupor, the Rodian in the hotel on Manaan, were the only two examples I could think of. All the rest did was say 'Jidabadawananeedibobo' way too much. And I think there was some guy in KotOR 2 who said something that sounded extremely like 'MAH CHEETOS!' Whatever. The point is, the dude was talking, and I had no idea what the hell he was saying.

Bastila, however, narrowed her eyes even more than they had been before, and that was quite a feat, believe me.

The guard finished talking and left in a hurry. I didn't blame him. The look Bastila was giving him was the most un-Jedi-like thing I had ever seen. When she turned on me, I recoiled in fear.

"What did he say?" I asked, my voice an octave higher than normal.

"He _said_ I'm being offered as the prize for a… swoop racing competition!" she spluttered angrily.

I sighed. "Oh, Lord. Brejik's turning you into a pawn to help him win his little gang war. Have fun, sunshine. Have fun. Say anything about me?"

"You are to be sold as a slave to a local crime lord," she replied indifferently.

"Fantastic. That wouldn't be Davik, would it?"

"I believe it would, yes."

"Oh, well great. Just what I need." Actually, it was. Assuming he had me work in his estate. Assuming Bastila and her not-Jedi-friend-who-was-actually-Revan found me. Assuming quite a lot of things. Well, I was basically screwed.

The next two days were hellish. They took Bastila and dressed her up in that ridiculous costume she wore at the swoop race in the game. Then they gave her what seemed to be the Star Wars version of chloroform, outfitted her with a neural restraint collar, and hauled her off to the swoop race. I was stuck. And completely screwed if a lot of unlikely coincidences didn't happen. The chances of said coincidences occurring were probably less than zero. So basically, I was completely screwed.

I threw myself backwards onto my bed, folded my arms behind my head, and stared at the ceiling. This would be a fantastic time, I thought, to reflect on my current situation. I still didn't know if this was a dream or not, for one thing. I was going to have to assume that it wasn't, however, because I didn't want to risk dying on the off chance that I was in fact dreaming. Then again, if I was dreaming, I probably wouldn't be questioning this. Fantastic.

Well, despite what would be my best efforts, I'd probably be dead pretty soon anyway, once the Sith decided to bomb Taris. This was not a comforting thought. As a matter of fact, I was completely freaked out. My impending death was not a happy topic for me. Therefore, I instantly turned to much less pressing, but much more depressing matters.

Since I was stuck here, there was probably no way for me to get back. Therefore, I was stuck without any possible chance of seeing my family or friends again. The overwhelming reality slammed into me like a bulldozer. And when the first tear leaked from my left eye, there was no stopping the flood.

**A/N: And there you have it. Any constructive criticism, let me know. Thoughts? Ideas? Random ranting that has nothing to do with anything whatsoever but you felt like telling me? Feel free to share. :) **


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Don't own this, just writing cuz I felt like it and posting cuz my friend made me :P (*cough cough* Jayde... *cough cough*) **

**A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed and followed and favorited and anything else I might have forgotten that gave me a warm fuzzy feeling inside! I love you all and you're wonderfully amazing people! (Seriously you make me so happy it's not even funny) **

**Anyways, I know I said I'd update once a week, but, well, I got impatient. So here's another chapter for you all. Enjoy! (Sorry if people are a little OOC, I'm trying to get the hang of this here :P)**

Chapter Two

I was half in a stupor when the Vulkars came for me. I put up no resistance as they dragged me from my cell. I didn't care when they put me in the back of a speeder and blindfolded me. I actually took the opportunity to go to sleep.

I woke up to a slap in the face. Literally. My human guard decided the first "wake-up-the-prisoner" tactic he would try would have to be slapping me in the face. Because that was a great idea. I muttered curses in several different languages (well, I'm not sure they were all curses; I'm pretty sure I said something about pickled plums in Japanese) as he hauled me out of the speeder roughly.

As if that wasn't rude enough, he then poked me in the back with a shock stick to make me walk forward. As I did so, I turned my head to glare at him and promptly tripped over my own feet, almost falling flat on my face. I would have done if the Rodian next to me, apparently my other guard, hadn't caught me. This was going absolutely fantastically. Note the sarcasm.

They marched me, each gripping one of my arms, through the corridors of the estate until we reached the throne room. Davik was lounging in the 'throne' in the center, raised on a pedestal, waited on by two scared-looking Twi'lek girls. A bold-looking red-haired human girl was standing before him and appeared to be speaking to him, perhaps making a business deal for her master (she wore a black leather collar around her neck, so I assumed she was a slave). Then Davik said something, and the fire in her eyes vanished, replaced almost instantly by complete, paralyzing fear.

"No!" she shouted. "No, you can't! I'll do anything, just not—"

"Silence!" Davik boomed. His voice was almost exactly the same as in the game, except now he was shouting, and it echoed throughout the room. The girl shrank back, cringing before Davik's fury. The old crime lord's eyes were narrowed, glaring down at the girl.

One of my guards cleared his throat. Probably not the smartest idea. Davik whirled on him, then he set eyes on me.

"Who is this?" he demanded of the offending guard.

"A—a new slave, sir," stammered the man. "The Vulkars captured her in the Undercity."

"The Undercity, eh?" Davik's tone had taken on a scheming sort of quality, and I suddenly knew why he was a successful crime lord. "Can you fight, girl?"

I shook my head. "I—I had a friend who would help me fight… but he was killed… and I was- I was knocked unconscious."

"How old are you?"

"S-sixteen, sir."

He flashed me a smirk before turning back to the guards. "Sevirr, take her to Mr. Kern." _Great_, I thought. _I'm now officially a slave. I hope I don't have to dance_. "And you!" Davik barked at the redhead. "Go with them! Make sure she knows the way things work here."

The girl bowed hastily and left in a hurry. My guards followed her, each still holding one of my arms. I let it happen, figuring there wasn't much I could do about it either way.

We got to a door, and then the guards released me, turning to the girl. "If she tries anything," said the human, "it's on your head." The girl nodded quickly. As the human prepared to open the door, the Rodian guard turned tail and nearly fled. I figured that was probably an indication of the character of my new master. Fantastic. My human guard took hold of my upper arm again and dragged me forward, knocking twice on the door before opening it.

A fairly young man, probably in his late twenties or early thirties, so tan there was no way it was natural, with equally unnatural blond hair but very natural-looking hazel eyes was lounging in what was probably the most cushioned chair in the history of everything. It was so cushioned, in fact, that though it had a vague shape, it was more of a bean bag chair than anything else.

As he beheld my guard, he stood to greet him and performed the signature Justin Bieber hair flip. First two minutes and my new job was already a nightmare. He took a couple steps forward and looked me up and down.

"Who's this, Sevirr?" he asked.

Sevirr gave him an extremely satisfied look. "New slave, just sent from the Black Vulkars. Davik's giving her to you for the duration of your stay. Generous, don't you think?"

The man's eyes flicked down and up my body again. "Very generous," he agreed, his tone almost making me shudder. But I couldn't. I had to keep my composure here, of all places.

"Davik's sent another slave to make sure she knows the way things work around here," Sevirr continued, indicating the redhead.

"Please, sir, my name is Astryd Mer—"

"Silence, girl!" snapped the blond man. A storm cloud of anger drifted over his unnaturally tan face. Astryd cringed back. "I can teach the girl myself," he continued in a menacingly polite voice, "how things _work_ around here. Now, go before I have to teach you, as well!"

The girl didn't need telling twice. She was gone quicker than a lightning bolt. I vaguely wondered if I'd ever see her again. But I had bigger problems.

"Thanks, Sev," said the man to my guard.

"Anytime, Kern. It's my job, after all."

"That's Mr. Kern to you, Sev." Kern's voice was cold and stormy again.

"Right, sorry. I keep forgetting you're rich now." Sevirr was obviously bitter about his friend's (or former friend's, as it appeared) success.

"Well, if you don't start remembering, I'm going to have to _help_ you remember." The threat behind Kern's words was clearly neither idle nor empty.

"Right, _sir._ Sorry." Sevirr said _sir_ as if it were just about the worst insult he could think of, and I was sure he meant it to sound like that. Before Kern had a chance to retaliate, however, he had turned and left, leaving me alone with the man who was apparently my new master.

"Can you dance?" he demanded of me.

"I thought it was the Hutts who—" A searing pain across my face cut off my sentence.

"One more word out of you other than 'yes' or 'no' and I may decide not to be so lenient," Kern growled, lowering the weapon which had just backhanded my face, his left hand. "Now, _can you dance?_"

"A bit, yes, sir. Not well, though."

"Well, that's useless," he snapped, frustrated. "What good is a slave who can't dance? Tell me you can at least sing."

"I can sing, sir."

"Good. Sing." He settled back in his chair and waited.

"Sorry, sir, but what would you like me to sing?"

"_Anything,_ girl. Just sing."

I sang.

The next two days became routine. I slept in the slave quarters, getting only five or six hours of sleep a night, woken up at ungodly hours of the morning to bring Kern breakfast and give him a massage. If there was one thing he appreciated other than my singing, it was my massages. I'd learned a few techniques from one of my friends back home, and it served me well here. Then I would do whatever he asked of me (usually singing, occasionally a bit of dancing) until I had to bring him lunch. I would serenade him during mealtimes. I would take messages to Davik or another of his guests. Then, on the afternoon of the second day, I was sent to deliver a sealed letter to another guest by the name of Mr. Haase.

When I knocked on his door, it was opened by the redheaded girl, Astryd, from my first day in the estate. "Oh, it's you!" she exclaimed in a whisper. "Mr. Haase's sleeping. May I do something for you?"

"I'm to deliver this letter to him," I whispered back, holding it out to her.

She took it, then paused. "Are you all right? Kern treating you okay?" She paused again. "Stupid question. Are you alive?"

I nodded, smiling a bit. "I'm alive. He hasn't done anything horrible yet, only hit me a few times."

"Only a few? He must be feeling charitable. I'm sorry you're stuck with him."

"It's only for a few more days," I said. "He leaves at the end of the week."

"Well, that's good. Let's hope your next assignment is a bit more suited to a beginner. I suppose Davik thinks he'll 'condition' you into a good slave."

"Something like that, yeah," I responded. Then I noticed that she was attempting to hold back tears. "Are you all right?" I asked. "Is something wrong?"

She started to shake her head, then gave up and nodded as the first tears fell. "I was made a slave because my parents couldn't pay off a debt to Davik. Now they still can't pay, and he's making my younger sister a slave as well."

I almost gasped. "That's terrible! Is she serving the same master?"

"Yes, fortunately. But—but she's not used to it, like I am. She talks back. And she gets beaten. Even by Mr. Haase, who's fairly decent as far as slave owners go."

"But you can help her, right?"

"We're being sent on a courier mission to the Vulkars tomorrow. Haase's almost certain Skye will try to escape. But I won't let her, I won't. I'm not going to lose my sister," she said through gritted teeth. Her fingers clenched involuntarily.

I reached forward and put a tentative hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. If she really respects you as her sister, if she trusts you, all you need to do is tell her the truth. She'll listen."

Astryd raised hopeful green eyes to meet mine. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "You'll be fine." I decided it was necessary to utter the absolute taboo of Star Wars. Something bad happened every time. I knew it. But I said it anyway. "I promise."

She managed a small smile. "Thanks. Good luck with Kern."

"Speaking of Kern, I should be getting back. I have a feeling I know what his 'real' punishment is, and I don't want my suspicions confirmed. Thanks for the chat, hon."

"Bye," she whispered softly. I turned and left, heading back to my master and my own personal hell.

**A/N: And there you have it! Update will be next week at the latest. You're all amazing! Please take a moment to review if at all possible. Yay! **

**-Athena**


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Does it need saying?...mk fine. Don't own KotOR. Happy? **

**A/N: That awkward moment when you apologize for people being OOC and then realize the actual characters don't come in until the next chapter... K, so just put that in here, and we're good. Have fun! **

**P.S. I know I said I'd be updating once a week, but now that I'm done writing, I get bored way too easily, and when I get bored i post a chapter. That's the way it goes. Deal with it :P**

Chapter Three

The explosions started shortly after a redhead broke down my door and killed my master. I was singing to him again; this time I was on a Taylor Swift marathon. Speak Now had just ended when there was the sound of clashing vibroblades and blaster fire. I had hardly begun You Belong With Me when the vibroblades made contact with my door. It was apparently not a very strong door, for it took the vibroblade less than a minute to break it down enough for its owner to get through the gap. A dangerous-looking face emerged, accented by the two thick sections of red hair that fell across her face, the bits that didn't make it into the French braid that held the rest of her hair. Her stormy gray eyes alighted instantly on Kern. Lightning struck from the storm clouds that were her eyes. And the lightning, her rage, hit Kern.

He barely had enough time to choke out, "What the—" before her vibroblade had run him through. He spluttered for several seconds, engaged in a stare-down with his own murderer, before he went limp and she pulled her sword out of his chest. I moved forward, but when she turned on me, I retreated several steps further than I had started. Her eyes were a lightning storm of fury, speaking of murder and death and hatred and betrayal, and the bloodstained sword in her hand only served to enhance the image. I raised my hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Who are you?" she demanded sharply. Her voice was less harsh than I'd expected; slightly rough around the edges, but with gentler undertones.

"A-Athena Sapphire." I stammered the lie I'd been repeating so often it had almost become the truth. "I am—was—his slave," I added, gesturing to Kern's limp body. "Please don't kill me," I begged her.

She lowered the blade and offered me a small smile. She looked so much less intimidating in that one moment that I took a few steps forward again. "Don't worry," she said. "I won't hurt you. I'm Caeli Jayde." At the time, I recognized the name, but couldn't place it. Only later would I remember the name of my KotOR character. "Could you get out okay on your own if we let you go? How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen," I told her, "and even if I did get out, Davik would find me. He has spies everywhere…" I let my voice trail off, trying to sound hopeless and despairing.

"Are you—" she began. That was when the explosions started. They shook the estate, sending me careening into the wall, reaching out to steady myself against it. "Come on!" cried Caeli. She drew a blaster from her belt and handed it to me. "You're coming with us!"

"Are you crazy?" Canderous demanded.

"Are you?" Caeli countered. "We're not leaving a sixteen-year-old to fend for herself when it seems like the Sith have finally decided they've milked all they're going to get out of Taris and want to blow it up, Candy!"

"Don't call me that," he snarled.

"Then don't question my judgment," she returned calmly. "Come on, kid. Let's get out of here."

I let them do the fighting. Caeli took point, and Canderous covered behind us, while I stayed in the middle, gripping the blaster like my life depended on it. It might, actually, I reflected. Apparently they'd already gotten the codes from the _Ebon Hawk's_ pilot and were fighting their way to the hangar. More explosions rocked the estate from time to time.

The world was a blur until the spice lab. Caeli ran in, swords flashing, and Canderous was shooting down Rodians left and right, but they missed one. And it was about to stab Caeli with a knife. Couldn't let that happen, so I had to take the risk. I aimed for its midriff and fired.

My shot actually hit its head, and its brains splattered all over the room, but Caeli spun around and stared. "Good shot, kid," she said finally. I decided not to tell her I'd missed my target entirely. "Come on, I think we're almost there." She checked her datapad, then turned and led the way out of the room.

"And… we're in!" Caeli announced, typing vigorously on the console in front of her. "Codes have been inputted, and the hangar is open. Let's get out of here." She shut off the computer and led the way again.

But of course, Davik and Calo were waiting for us. "Well, well, well," said the crime lord. "Thieves in the hangar. And not only of my ship, but of my slave! That simply won't do, Ms. Jayde."

"Yeah, sorry about this," said Caeli. "Nothing personal, it's just I needed to get out of here, and, well, you were gullible enough to buy our story. But since you're going to try and stop us escaping, I'm going to have to kill you now." Without any further preamble, she drew her sword and charged him. Canderous took on Calo. I could tell it was a personal fantasy of his, to watch Calo die by his hand.

I turned my attention back to Caeli and Davik, admiring the woman's finesse. She did what looked like a mixture of a backflip and a cartwheel, then held up her swords again. She parried his attack, stepped backwards neatly, and attempted to stab him. Unfortunately, his armor was actually good. Her blade glanced off and she was forced to do another backflip to get away. That was when he cheated.

He pulled a blaster on her. She froze, seeming to look for an opportunity to kill him, but seeing none. I decided to intervene. I fired a shot in Davik's direction. It didn't hit him, but it distracted him slightly, and he looked over at me. That was enough. Caeli pulled out her own blaster and shot him in the neck. Davik fell, looking mildly surprised, twitched a few times, and stilled. Caeli and I both turned our attention to Canderous' battle with Calo Nord.

Upon witnessing the death of his employer, the bounty hunter reached into his pocket and pulled out something I instantly recognized as a thermal detonator. "If I'm going down," he shouted, "I'm taking all of you with me!" Before he could press the button, however, another explosion rocked the hangar. I looked upward, expecting the ceiling to cave and crush him, as always happened in the game (unless it glitched and the ceiling didn't actually fall. True story), but nothing happened. It looked like it was on the verge of collapse, but nothing happened. Without thinking, I swung my blaster up to point at the ceiling just above Calo's head and fired. That was the catalyst. The ceiling collapsed as usual and Calo was under it, somehow still alive.

I didn't have time to worry about that now, though. I dashed across the hangar towards the Hawk, stumbling several times as explosions erupted around us. Caeli and Canderous followed after me, and once we were in the ship, both dashed to the cockpit and I followed. Canderous took the pilot's seat and Caeli the copilot's. I stood behind them, watching the hangar crumble into nothing as we left it, watching laser cannons from the fleet burning holes through entire buildings, holes through which I could see the rest of the burning city. Civilians were screaming, running, looking anywhere for shelter, for any sanctuary, but there was no escape. There would be no escape for them.

As we landed outside the apartments, a girl ran past, screaming, in flames. She ran to the edge of the walkway and jumped, falling into the chasm of nothing to the surface far below. Nothing could be done for her, and I thought how many others just like her were now dead or dying. Innocent people, victims of the Sith. The Sith, who would destroy billions of lives just to destroy one enemy, an enemy who was about to escape anyway. I retreated into the cargo hold and sat against the wall, clutching my knees to my chest, trying not to relive the girl's death over and over in my head. I wondered what her name was, what she was like, who her friends were, her family. I wondered what her fate would have been, if her life hadn't been cut so cruelly short by Sith callousness.

I felt the _Hawk_ take off, wobbling slightly as it dodged the fire from the cannons above. And once more, the burning girl leaped to her death. As Carth's voice spoke over the intercom, talking about Sith fighters, and I heard Caeli's footsteps heading to the turret, billions of others screamed my name, asking me to help them, begging for the pain to just end, begging for their deaths to be quick and painless. I couldn't take it anymore. The crushing reality of it overwhelmed me, and I sank almost into a stupor, trying to numb myself to the pain. It wasn't working. Over and over, that girl and millions of others jumped to their deaths to avoid the pain they would feel otherwise. It was the easy way out, the least painful. And I pondered their ends, thinking that, but for a small twist of fate and chance, I would have been one of them, trying to flee the inevitable.

I was vaguely aware of someone sinking down next to me, of an arm snaking around my shoulders, and of gentle arms holding me as I cried. I didn't know who it was, and I didn't really care. I was simply grateful that _someone_ was there, that I wasn't alone. And we were safe, at least for the moment.

**A/N: I seem to be crying a lot, don't I? Ah, well, this is a very stressful and traumatic experience for me ;) Review if you have a moment. Love you all! Have a great day!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. Still. *sigh*... one can't have everything. **

**A/N: Well, here we are again. Thanks to everyone who reviewed/followed/favorited, it really keeps me motivated! (I like it when I'm motivated). And I really should be applying to college now, but... couldn't resist :) Enjoy!**

Chapter Four

I woke up to movement beside me. I stirred slightly and opened my eyes blearily, about to ask questions, but Carth shushed me. I looked up. Carth had Caeli in his arms and seemed to be preparing to carry her to bed. He motioned for me to follow.

We entered the port quarters. Mission was already asleep in one of the beds, tear tracks decorating her blue skin. Carth gently placed Caeli in the second bunk and gestured for me to take the third. I sat down on it, but looked up curiously.

"What happened?" I whispered.

"After we left Taris, Caeli went to comfort Mission. Mission fell asleep pretty quickly and Caeli put her to bed, then she went to find you. When she didn't show up for a couple hours, I went looking and found you two asleep in the cargo hold." I noticed he wasn't meeting my eyes.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked.

He inclined his head, shrugged, and led the way out of the dormitory. Bastila was meditating in the compartment Juhani always occupied in the game, so Carth took me to the cockpit. He sat down in his chair, and I took the copilot's. He turned to me.

"So, who exactly are you?" His tone spoke of suspicion and mistrust. I was pretty sure it wasn't wrong.

"My name's Athena Sapphire," I said. "I was captured in the Undercity with Bastila by the Black Vulkars, and I was sold as a slave to Davik. I worked for one of his guests for a few days, then Caeli came along, killed my master, and since the Sith were blowing up the planet, she decided to take me along." There was a somewhat awkward pause. "Look," I said, "I know you probably don't trust me, you have no reason to, but I'm not even asking to join your crew. All I wanted was to get away from slavery and away from Taris. Once we get to D-" I hastened to correct myself, realizing that I shouldn't know we were going to Dantooine, "-to wherever we're going, I'll leave you all and find my own way. Fair enough?"

He nodded slowly. "Fair enough. I can't deny you freedom, if that's really all you want."

"You suspect I have ulterior motives?" I asked.

He shrugged again. "I learned a long time ago not to take things at face value. And I hate surprises. You may be just a freed slave searching for a new life. But I think there's something strange about you, something off…"

I sighed. "Are you always this paranoid?" This time, his paranoid suspicions were correct, of course, but I wasn't going to tell him that.

"I just don't trust anyone, and for good reasons. If you want to know those, ask Caeli, I'm sure she'll tell you all about it." He snorted and rolled his eyes.

"She's been poking and prying, has she?" I asked.

He nodded. "It's a little refreshing sometimes, but more often than not, it's just plain infuriating. I wish she'd just leave me alone and harass someone else for a change!"

"Like you're harassing me?" I joked. He looked up, startled, but when he saw my smile, he sank back into his chair, chuckling halfheartedly.

"All right, sister, you got me. Good one."

I actually laughed at that. Surprising, considering what had happened at Taris. "Thanks." I paused. "Remind me of your name?" I figured I was better safe than sorry.

"Carth Onasi," he said. "Republic soldier and, according to Caeli, resident paranoid hairless Wookiee."

I laughed again. "Well, I'm only a temporary, so I figure I probably won't get a nickname. Mission's probably already the resident kid, hmm?"

"She objected to that. We settled on resident slicer. You can be the kid, if you want."

"Thanks, Onasi. That'd be great. Not like I can really do much of anything else. I can't fight to save my life. Literally. I'm pretty good at distractions, though."

"Well, if you're going to be living on Dantooine alone, you'll need to be able to fight."

I shrugged. "I'll see what I can do about that. For now, I think I'll get some sleep."

"All right." He paused. "I'm here if you need anything," he added after a moment's thought.

I waved a farewell and made my way back to my bed. It felt like the most comfortable bed in the history of ever, probably just because I was so exhausted and sore. I was out within seconds.

When I woke up, both Caeli and Mission were gone. I figured I'd probably slept in, as I tended to do back at home, so I got up and headed for the shower. At the foot of my bed, I found a set of clothes; simple black slacks with a black leather belt and a gray tank top.

I emerged from the shower ten minutes later feeling extremely refreshed and clean. I tied my damp hair back in a ponytail, though some of it fell out and around my face. Out of force of habit, I slipped my cell phone into my pocket, even though I had no reception. I'd already checked.

I folded my Earth clothes and put them on my bed. I'd have to figure out if there was a washing machine on this ship. My eyes fell on something else: a black leather jacket, folded neatly at the foot of my bed. Then I realized something: it was _my_ black leather jacket. _How the hell did it get here?_ I wondered.

I didn't know, and I didn't really care. I slipped my arms into it and felt better almost immediately. At least there was _something_ familiar around here.

As I headed to the cockpit, the ship lurched slightly and I paused to steady myself. When I entered the cockpit, I was looking out over a planet. The dominant color was green, with spots of blue and brown every so often. Dantooine.

Caeli looked back at me from her place behind Carth's seat. "Hey, sleepyhead. Welcome to Jedi-land." She gestured at the planet below us. Bastila turned around to see who she was talking to, and her eyes widened. "How did _she_ get here?" the Jedi demanded.

"Careful, princess," said Caeli coolly. "Impatience and anger lead to the dark side, I've been told. And she's here because I _brought_ her here. Did you think she randomly teleported into our cargo hold? Or sneaked on board sometime while we were in hyperspace?" She rolled her eyes. I decided I liked Caeli. A lot. "Wait, do you know her?" Caeli asked as an afterthought.

Bastila rolled her eyes. "Of course I know her," she snapped. "You were a little slow on the uptake there, weren't you?"

I expected Caeli to make a snappy retort, but her glare was even better. It wasn't the lightning storm she'd given Kern, but there was definitely potential for it. Even Bastila took a step backwards. "Don't test me, princess," Caeli growled.

"Caeli," said Carth from the pilot's chair. "I hate to break it to you, but killing Bastila isn't exactly going to help us here."

"And who are you to talk, Mr. Paranoid?" Caeli rounded on Carth. "Mr. I-Don't-Trust-Anyone-Even-If-They've-Proved-Themselves-About-Twenty-Times must surely know what's best for absolutely _everyone._" God, this woman was more sarcastic than I was. That could be good, or it could be very, very bad.

I decided to intervene. "Jayde!" She jumped and looked at me. "Seriously. You're not helping."

She sighed. "Sorry, Sapphire," she muttered.

"And Bastila," I added, "I'm here, as Caeli said, because I was invited. I was sold as a slave to Davik, then Caeli came, killed my master, and got me out just as the bombing started. She decided to be a nice person and not leave me to die in that crumbling temple of wealth, so I came with. Don't worry, though, I'm out as soon as humanly possible. I wouldn't want to ruin your chances of saving the galaxy." I gave a sarcastic smirk.

Bastila just stared.

"Oh, and, uh, did you have fun in that neural disruptor collar? If you'd listened to my advice and not tried to save yourself with Jedi powers, your escape might have been a hell of a lot easier."

"Really? And how was being a slave? I wonder just how much you were actually able to do for your master. You don't seem the capable sort."

That touched a nerve. I _hated_ feeling useless. Still do, as a matter of fact. Anyways, I gave Bastila my absolute best death glare. She didn't shrink back, but she did look mildly shocked. Caeli stepped between us.

"Calm down, everyone. We're about to land. Bastila, I'm sure you need to report to the Jedi Council. Athena, go see if Mission will teach you to play Pazaak."

I shrugged, turned, and left, but I had no intention of going to see Mission. I'd never actually met her before, and I didn't even think she knew I existed. Well, she might have seen me asleep when she woke up. Still, though, I didn't want to bother getting to know the crew if I was just going to stay on Dantooine. I went instead back to the cargo hold, taking a datapad so I could at least write down my thoughts and maybe reflect a little. I couldn't leave it there, of course, I couldn't let anyone find out who I was, but at least I could think a little. I leaned against the wall with my knees up. I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed.

_Trapped in KotOR,_ I wrote. That one sentence alone seemed so unlikely. I sighed again.

_Bastila doesn't like me, _I wrote next. That one was kind of a given. She didn't trust me any more than Carth did. And maybe even less.

_No way to get back, that I know of. _A pause. Then I decided to admit the truth.

_I miss home. _And that was the ultimate truth. No matter what had happened, whether I'd get to see anyone or anything again, I could still dream. Maybe the Jedi could help me find a way back, or discover why I had been sent here in the first place. I leaned my head back and imagined my school campus, walking up to the dining hall from my dorm, pausing beside a good climbing tree I had dubbed 'Roger' in my freshman year. In my head, I ran a hand along the bark before continuing my walk, this time into the woods to one of the secluded spots I was so familiar with.

I don't know how long I sat there, absorbed in thoughts of home. Next thing I was aware of, Caeli was calling my name. "Sapphire! Sapphire! Ah, damn it, Athena!"

I hastily erased everything I'd written, got up, and poked my head out of the cargo hold. "What's up?"

"Bastila says the Jedi want to speak with us."

"With—with me? The Jedi want to talk to me?"

She shrugged. "Apparently. Believe me, I'm as surprised as you are. No idea what they'd want with me."

"Well, you're powerful in the Force and all that shit. I'm just… me. No idea how I ended up in this mess, can't even fight… maybe it's just to see about living arrangements. Yeah, that'll be it."

She shrugged again, giving me a strange look. "Whatever you say, Sapphire." She turned and left the ship, and I followed her into the Enclave.

I followed Bastila to the Jedi Council chamber as the Jedi named Belaya waylaid Caeli, calling her a Padawan. I didn't stay for the rest of the conversation. As soon as I came into view of the Council, they turned as one to stare at me. Feeling extremely uncomfortable under the stares of all of them, including Bastila, I walked forward to stand in front of the Council.

Vrook's eyes were narrowed in disapproval, as I suspected they often were. Zhar eyed me appraisingly. Dorak's face remained neutral, as did Vandar's. The tiny Master's eyes, however, gazed into mine with a kindly air.

"Bastila," said Zhar, his eyes never leaving my face, "leave us."

Bastila looked confused for a moment, then bowed and said, "Of course, Master."

"We shall send her out when we are ready to meet with you and this Caeli Jayde you spoke of," Vandar informed her.

Bastila hastily bowed her head again and strode out of the room. The Masters all turned to me again, all at the same time. It was really creepy, to tell the truth.

Zhar spoke. "You are the one known as Athena Sapphire, who has come seeking sanctuary after the destruction of Taris?"

I nodded slowly. "Yes…" I paused. "Forgive me, Masters, but I feel that if you merely wanted to ask me that, Bastila could have stayed."

"There is something we must discuss with you," said Vrook, eyes narrowed all the while, and his tone stirred cold fear within me. Did they know? Could they?

"Yes?" I asked, trying and failing to keep my voice from shaking.

"Where did you come from?" asked Dorak. None of the Masters were moving, but my fear was creating the illusion that they were closing in on me, backing into a corner, trapping me. I used all my willpower not to step back.

I ran the lie I'd come up with during my alone time on the _Hawk_ through my head. "I lived on Alderaan," I told them, praying to whatever god there might be here that they wouldn't notice my lies. "My parents moved around a lot, though, so I was left with my aunt. My father was a hunter, and sometimes my mother would accompany him on his trips, and they—they were both… killed, by a krayt dragon on Tatooine. After that, I had to stay with my brother and my aunt. My brother was able to get us out, though, and smuggle us to Taris. We got separated, though… I think he ended up joining the Beks. He's… he's probably dead now…" Tears that weren't fake at all came to my eyes and left them just as quickly. All I had to do was think of how I'd probably never see my brother, or any of my friends, or my family, again. Ever.

Vrook, however, raised a skeptical eyebrow. Dorak seemed to agree with him. "There is no record of your existence anywhere until a week ago on Taris," he said.

"There is no need to lie to us," said Vandar. "None of your companions are present, and we will not condemn you for the truth."

It sounded so tempting, but I was wary. I didn't trust the Jedi, not knowing what they did to Revan. I had no idea what they'd do to me if they found out the truth. Then again, who could better help me get back home than the Jedi masters? If there was a way, surely they could find it.

_Unless it involves the Dark Side,_ murmured a small voice in my mind. I silenced it. I didn't want to think that way, not for the moment at least. While there was the tiniest bit of hope, I would cling to it for dear life.

"Your emotions betray you, young one," said Zhar. "We know you are hiding something."

_Damn it. Well, what's there to lose? Sure, I could end up locked in an insane asylum for the rest of my life, but really, how much worse could that be than living on Dantooine? _

I decided to deliver the news to them in a slap-in-the-face sort of way. "The thing is, Masters, I'm not entirely sure I can trust you, knowing what you did to Revan."

The bomb was dropped. And I was holding all the cards. Or most of them. They were now in a corner themselves, as opposed to the other way around.

"How do you know this?" I wasn't sure how much narrower Vrook's eyes could get, but he'd probably had a lot of practice.

"Where I come from, all this—" I gestured around me, "—is a game. A video game, designed for entertainment. And I know several potential scenarios for its outcome."

They seemed speechless.

"And no, I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to have you throwing off the balance of the future. I don't want to do that. Which is why I'm requesting to be allowed to stay here."

"What more do you know?" asked Vandar. I scanned their faces. If I hadn't known any better, I would have said they were afraid. But no one in their right mind would be afraid of little old me.

"Other than the fact that Caeli's Revan and you're using her to find Malak's superweapon? Well, I know she and Bastila have a bond created by Bastila's action in saving Revan's life on her bridge when Malak tried to kill her. I know what Malak's superweapon is, how to find it, and how to destroy it, even though I'm not going to tell you. I know how and why Revan fell to the Dark Side. I know how the Republic is going to die 4,000 years in the future, but that's beside the point. I also know," I felt compelled to add, "that you Jedi take shortcuts in your rules."

"To what are you referring?"

_Ooh, _I thought, _they're among those who won't even put up with ending sentences with a preposition. _It reminded me of the Winston Churchill quote that goes something like "ending sentences with a preposition is something up with which I will not put." Sounds odd, but it's grammatically correct. Anyways. I'm off topic again.

"I'm talking about your rules on love," I informed them. "Love itself doesn't condemn you to the dark side. If you give in to passion, it can lead to other emotions which then lead to the dark side, but love itself will save you, not condemn you. But really, it doesn't make a difference. Believe what you will about love, all I want right now is for you to leave me and my past alone, and give me a place to stay. I can't stay with the crew of the _Hawk,_ not like they'd want me to anyway, once you send them off on their little adventure, for fear of wrecking the future. So please, don't pry, just give me a place to stay, and maybe I'll tell you some things later, if I decide to trust you despite what you've done to Revan."

"We will honor your request for the moment, young one," said Zhar. "You may stay in the guest wing of the Enclave, and we will not pester you with questions until such time as we deem it necessary."

"Even then, though, I may decide not to answer certain things. Things that could screw the future over, like, majorly."

"We realize that we cannot force you to answer anything," said Vandar. Vrook was glaring daggers at all of us, but we ignored him.

"But we can cross that bridge when we come to it," finished Dorak. "For now, consider yourself our guest."

"Thank you, Masters," I said, bowing my head because it felt appropriate. "Shall I summon Caeli and Bastila?"

"Please do," said Vrook in a tone of forced politeness.

I was halfway to the door before I remembered. "And Masters?"

"Yes?" asked Zhar.

"When that time comes, the time when you feel compelled to ask everything, would you be oh so kind as to attempt to help me in finding a way back? Because I'm still not entirely sure how I got here, let alone how to get back."

"We will do what we can," said Dorak.

"Thank you, Masters," I said, bowing my head again. I turned and headed for the door. Caeli, Bastila, and Carth were all waiting, looking mildly curious. "They're waiting for you," I told the women. Bastila nodded and headed into the chamber. Caeli, however, remained for a moment.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah," I lied, "they just wanted to clear up a few things. I'll be staying in the Enclave indefinitely." I paused. "Now, go. They're waiting. And I wouldn't want to see Vrook get cranky." She looked confused. I laughed internally. If she knew Vrook, she'd be rolling on the floor. As it was, however, she simply nodded and headed into the Council chambers.

Carth turned to me as the door closed behind her. "You were being purposefully vague." It wasn't a question.

I decided to be elusive. "Was I?" I asked innocently.

"Yes, you were," Carth deadpanned. "What did they really want?"

"They wanted to know what I knew," I told him truthfully.

"And? What is that?"

"Come on, if I didn't tell them anything, what makes you think I'll tell you? And plus, my presence here is already screwing up the balance of things, how much more damage could I do if people knew the truth?" I was more talking to myself at this point, but Carth noticed and he was alarmed.

"What do you mean, 'if people knew the truth'?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're back to your trust issues."

"See, I don't recall telling you I had trust issues."

_Shit._ Caught again. "Ummm, Caeli told me."

"Right," he said, sounding disbelieving. "I'll see you around, Sapphire. Come talk to me if you feel like telling someone the truth for once."

I'd never admit it, but those words hit home in a way he never could have dreamed they would. I lied regularly, just tiny lies, nothing important, usually. But there were exceptions. I didn't think anyone knew the full truth about me as I was. My family didn't know about my boy problems, namely Stephen (the boy I'd had a crush on for nearly four years), my friends (most of them) didn't know I watched Let's Plays, and… well, I was sure there was _something_ I was keeping from Kayleigh. The point was, when he said _tell someone the truth for once_, I had the strangest urge to tell him everything. I was sure it would feel fantastic to get it all off my chest, to finally be completely open with someone. But here? To Carth? No, I couldn't. It was much, much too risky. Wasn't it?

I sat there, debating that very question, for quite some time. I wasn't keeping track, nor was anyone else, I'm sure. Next thing I knew, however, the door in front of me sprang open and Caeli came storming out with Bastila following her—though _chasing_ is probably a much more accurate term.

I caught Bastila's arm. "What's going on?"

"Don't expect me to tell _you,_" she spat angrily. "As I recall, you are not a part of our crew and have no right to know." She spun on her heel with her nose in the air and marched off after Caeli. I sighed. This would be a long, long… however long it was that the Jedi training took.

Anyways, I knew what happened. It didn't matter that Bastila didn't tell me. The Jedi told Caeli they wanted to train her, and she didn't want to be a Jedi. She thought she wasn't ready, or something of that sort, and she didn't want to give up her life. So she left. I sighed. I hoped, at least, they'd be able to convince her to train. Because if they didn't, the galaxy was screwed.

**A/N: And on that happy note... I'll get back to you by sometime this week! Have a great day/week/life! :D Review if you have a moment!**

**You all are fantastic!**

**-Athena**


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Been through this, you all know what comes next. *sniff* it's almost too painful to say it, but... I don't own KotOR. :'( **

**A/N: Hey, it's been a bit longer than usual (I think) but I've been visiting colleges and writing essays (ew) but anyway I'm back! Here's another chapter. Happy reading!**

Chapter Five

I headed back to the _Hawk _later, not because I had any delusion that I was wanted there, but because I wanted to talk to Carth. I found him in the cockpit, as expected, thinking deeply with his head in his hands.

"Hey," I said.

He looked up, surprised. "I didn't expect you to come this quickly. Especially now that we'll be here awhile, with Caeli training to be a Jedi."

"Whether she likes it or not," I added.

He nodded in agreement. "So, why are you here?"

"I'm not going to tell you everything. Not yet, at least. I want to make a deal with you."

He sat up straight and looked me in the eye. "What sort of deal?" he questioned warily.

"I can tell you don't like it already. Don't worry, I won't get you killed. Here's the deal: I'll tell you the truth about me, all of it, on two conditions. One: you don't tell anybody unless I tell you it's okay. Two: you teach me how to fight. If I'm going to be living here indefinitely I'm going to need to know how to fight off these vicious kath hounds. And it's not like you have much else to do with your time. So, what do you say?"

He sat there and seemed to think it over for several minutes. Finally, he sighed. "I don't have much choice, if I want to know, do I?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No. And, if you think any of my information could be a threat to the Republic or something, just ask if you can tell someone. I'll probably say yes, unless it'll screw everything up. I'm not evil, I promise. I'm just being careful. I don't want my presence here to screw the galaxy over. Because at this rate, it very well might."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell the truth in bits and pieces, so you don't think I'm just going to take your training and run off with it. That was the first bit, just to…" I hated to quote Malak, but I couldn't think of anything else, "…to whet your appetite, as it were. I'll tell you more once we start training."

He sighed. "All right, kid. You've got yourself a deal. How does tomorrow sound?"

I grinned. "Fantastic. Thanks, Carth." I turned and left the ship. I had some sleeping to do if I was going to start training the next day.

We started at the same time Caeli started training to be a Jedi. Carth took me out on the plains of Dantooine with nothing but a blaster and a vibroblade each. I was more than a little confused.

"Why are we out here?" I asked Carth.

"Well, we couldn't have you shooting _me_ for target practice, could we? I figured we'd start by shooting targets, then we could progress to kath hounds, depending on how well you do," he explained.

I nodded slowly. "Right."

He pulled out a knife and carved a circle with a diameter about the length of my arm into the side of the cliff. (Well, I guess they aren't _really_ cliffs, they're only about fifteen feet tall, but I can't think of a better word.) He showed me how to aim a basic blaster pistol, made sure I knew all the features (like where the safety was and how to turn it on and off; with my luck, I'd shoot myself in the foot within two seconds). Then he had me shoot at his homemade target, aiming for a smaller circle in the center of the larger one, which was about the size of my fist. It took several minutes to get used to the thing (several minutes during which I couldn't even hit the larger circle, let alone the small one). Finally, I got several shots in a row into the large circle, and one of them in the small circle. I felt pretty good about myself, but when I'd lowered my blaster, Carth looked at me expectantly.

My "What?" was accompanied by my standard eyebrow raise which was both an expression of confusion and a challenge.

"Well, now that you can successfully hit a target with a blaster, I figured you might tell me a bit more of the truth."

Both my eyebrows went up this time as I shrugged. "Fair enough."

He nodded but didn't speak. I took that as my cue to continue. "The truth," I sighed. "I'm not from around here. I'm not even from this galaxy, and I might be from the past, the future, or an alternate reality of sorts. I really have no idea. I got zapped into the wreck of Bastila's escape pod somehow, and I have no idea how the hell I'm going to get back. That's all I'm saying for now."

"That seems to be a large majority of it," he remarked. "I'm still trying to work out if I believe you or not, but what else aren't you telling me?"

"Oh, there's more. More that's even less believable. More that could make you trust me, or it could convince you I've been lying the whole time and anyone who trusts me is a complete _di'kut._ I'm not sure. But it's beyond anything I can even comprehend. Not even the Jedi understand it. But anyways, I said I'd tell you the truth, I didn't say you had to believe it."

We decided to call it a day shortly after that. Carth went back to the _Hawk_ while I retreated to my quarters in the Enclave. I reflected that if Carth kept his word not to tell anyone, this arrangement would work very well indeed.

"No, I'm not going to tell you any more now. Not until I can actually hit a moving target. I've decided only to give you new information when I hit a milestone," I told Carth the next day during training. I'd been shooting at kath hounds, but I never seemed to be able to kill them and Carth always had to intervene before they bit my head off. He missed one, though, and I had to draw my vibroblade and stab it in the throat. But I could never kill them with the blaster.

It took me three more days to reach that milestone. When I finally stood, panting, triumphant, with a dead kath hound at my feet, Carth approached me.

"Good job." He paused.

"Give me two minutes to breathe," I requested. He nodded, and we waited in a somewhat strained silence for me to catch my breath.

Finally, I regained my breath and managed to speak. I wasn't sure what to tell him, though. I wanted to save the final revelation for after I'd mastered vibroblade combat, but I'd already told him pretty much everything else…

"Well, I guess I'll tell you how I got here. Not that I'm entirely sure what happened, but I'll tell you the story from my perspective.

"I was at home (which didn't happen much, as I went to school halfway across the continent) and I was pretty much bored out of my mind at 2:00 in the morning. I decided to play a game on my family's computer, which I generally don't do at 2 in the morning because I'm afraid of waking someone up and getting in trouble. This time, though, I decided to do it, regardless of the consequences.

"So I loaded up the game as always, and I created my character (it was a role playing game, where you create your own character and you can pick the path they take) and I'd just started the game when the computer did something weird. It made strange noises, then, like, lightning started shooting out of it. It hit my chair, and my shoulder (that's how I got this)-" I indicated the scar on my left shoulder, "-and then it kinda came out in a string and wrapped around me. I was paralyzed, I literally couldn't move. And it felt like my entire body was falling asleep. Then when it closed over my head, there was a second of blinding pain, and then I was just gone. When I woke up, I was in a cell with Bastila."

"And this all just happened? With no evident explanation?"

"None whatsoever. I'm sure there's an explanation out there somewhere, I just doubt it will make any sense to me at all. Still, though, I'm here, and that's it. All I can do now is wait it out and hope some way pops up for me to get back."

"Could the Jedi help you? I mean, I don't trust them any more than I trust anyone else, maybe even less, but this sounds right up their alley."

I shook my head. "They were as confused as I am. I don't think I'm getting any answers from them."

"You'll figure something out."

I grimaced. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I'm not very hopeful at the moment. I'll just see what I can do to make a life for myself here. Maybe I can fit in. I know enough about this place…"

"That's another thing I've been meaning to ask you. If you showed up in Bastila's cell, how did you know so much? How did you know enough to come up with a cover story people believed?"

"I believe that's a conversation for the next milestone. Which would be mastering vibroblade combat."

Carth groaned. "I've always hated fighting with vibroblades. I can do it, I had to in order to pass my training, but I've always preferred blasters."

"Hey, I've done some sword combat. I did fencing at home. It's different, but I know some basics. And I've been able to kill some kathies with my blade if they get too close."

"Kathies?"

I shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

He sighed. It almost sounded exasperated.

I laughed. "Get used to it, Onasi. I have a very strange sense of humor."

Carth's vibroblade went spinning out of his hand and I put my own sword at his throat. After a moment designed to remove any and all doubt of my victory, I lowered my weapon and waited for him to speak.

"Good job," he said after a moment. He rubbed absently at the small red mark my blade had left on his neck, but it didn't seem to be bothering him too much.

I smiled, happy to have his approval. "I guess I'd better tell you the rest, now, huh?"

He didn't say anything, but waited for me to continue.

"Remember how last time, I told you I was playing a game when I was transported here?"

Though it had been almost a week, he nodded. Clearly he had been drinking in every detail, hanging on to my every word, relishing in the fact that for once, someone was being completely honest with him. I continued.

"That game was called Knights of the Old Republic. It's the story of a Jedi. The character I was playing as woke up on the Endar Spire in the middle of a Sith attack. When the pilot she joined forces with said that their commander's escape pod was gone, that was when the strange things started happening." I paused. "My character's name was Caeli Jayde. The commander was Bastila Shan. And the pilot was Carth Onasi. You."

His eyes widened in shock, perhaps disbelief.

"Believe me or no, it's the truth. I've played the game before. I know it better than the back of my hand. I know what Caeli's mission will be, I know who else will join forces with you, I know the layouts of the places you'll be visiting. And I know several possible ways in which this story could end. It could end very well, or it could end very, very badly. In the game, it all depended on the player's choices. Here, it all depends on Caeli."

"That's…"

"Unbelievable. Crazy. Insane. Wacko. I know. Believe me. But my knowledge will help me survive in this world."

"Or it could get you killed, if people find out. Who else knows?"

"Just the Jedi Council. I didn't want to tell them, but I didn't really have a choice."

"I'd avoid telling anyone else if you can. It's too risky. I've gotten to know you a little bit these past couple weeks, Athena, and I, uh, I'm glad you told me the truth, but I wouldn't be as open with it in the future. It could be dangerous."

"So wait… you believe me?"

"For some reason… yes. I feel like I can trust you, even though your story sounds completely illogical. Why would you make that up if it wasn't the truth, anyway?"

"Fair point. So… we friends?" I held out my hand.

Carth took it and shook. "You're dead set on staying here?"

I nodded. "I don't want to mess up the future. My presence has already changed a couple things, small ones, and I don't want to make it worse. But you'll visit me, right?"

"Whenever I can convince the others." He flashed a half smile. "If you ever change your mind, I think there's an extra bunk somewhere on that ship."

"I'll keep that in mind, Carth. Thanks."

**A/N: And... that's that. Review if you have a moment (I say this every time but seriously, I get this amazing bubble of happiness every time I get a review). Thank you all so much for your constant support, it's a pleasure to write for you :D Have a great rest of your day/evening/night/week/month/life/whatever else i might have forgotten! **

**-Athena**


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Do I have to say it again? Really? ...fine. I _still_ don't own this. **

**A/N: I've heard requests for more frequent updates, so I'll try to post a new chapter every couple of days. Thanks to my reviewers! You guys make my world go round! (along with jazz band... but that's beside the point) Happy reading! **

**P.S. And as a side note, I sometimes make really vague references to things nobody's ever heard of, so if someone gets one of them... brownie points! :D**

Chapter Six

Caeli spoke to me briefly just before they left for their first planet: Kashyyyk.

"You sure you want to stay here?" she asked me.

"I don't really have a choice. I'd never be accepted by your crew, and I'd probably do more harm than good. ;You're all better off if I stay here. Still, you'll visit me, right?"

"Of course." She paused. "Take care of yourself, Sapphire. I don't want to come back and find you in five pieces, hmm?"

I laughed. "Understood. See you, Cael."

"Cael?"

"Sure, why not?"

She inclined her head. "I kinda like it."

"Good. Now go save the galaxy."

She laughed, clapped me on the shoulder, and left. I stayed there for a while, contemplating everything that had happened and everything that hopefully would happen, now that I wasn't there to screw things up.

There was a knock on the door of my room. Probably the Jedi Masters coming along to ask impertinent questions, I thought. But it wasn't. It was Belaya.

"You are Athena Sapphire, correct?" she asked.

"Well, yes…"

"Caeli Jayde has instructed me to keep an eye on you, and to help you to create a sword that can defeat a lightsaber."

"She _what?"_

"She instructed—"

"I heard you. But… why?"

"She says you have shown great potential, and she doesn't want that potential to go to waste killing kath hounds. She says you can do some good on this planet. She left a list…"

"Let me guess: deal with the Mandalorian raiders, solve the Sandral-Matale feud, find Elise's droid, all the while trying not to get killed by kath hounds."

She looked startled. "How did you know?"

I shrugged. "She told me some of the stuff the Council told her to do, and I figured she might have left it for me. Good thing I won't get bored."

"Come with me," said Belaya. "Our best option, perhaps, is to use a common vibroblade, but enhance it to the point where it can rival a lightsaber for power."

"How exactly will we do that?" I asked skeptically.

"I came late to the Force. Before I was trained by the Jedi, I worked with my father, who made swords. He was a master of his craft, and he taught me everything he knew. He made some truly exceptional blades. Using the things I learned from him, and with the help of the Force, our task should succeed."

"_Should._ Glad for the vote of confidence, Bel."

She rolled her eyes. "Come with me, Sapphire." She turned and left. Not seeing an alternative, I followed her.

I stood on the plains, holding a sword. It wasn't the sword it would be once Belaya was done with it, but it was still something. It was pure silver, and maybe it was my imagination, but it looked like it was glowing with a silver-blue light, sparkling dangerously. The hilt had a flower with four petals carved into it, which matched the three on the lower blade, and it felt… right when I touched it. It was a hand-and-a-half sword, and it seemed to fit perfectly in my hands. It was surprisingly light, too. I swung it several times experimentally, managed to not chop my own legs off, and felt much more comfortable.

I set of at a brisk walk to nowhere in particular. Belaya had sent me out here to test the sword, the best she had been able to find in the Jedi Enclave. Admittedly, it was a really good sword. And I thought I recognized it. I hadn't realized there was more than one: the Silver Lined Sword from Ajunta Pall's tomb. It fit the description fairly well, with a few deviations.

A kath hound came barreling around the corner, headed straight for me. I raised the sword. Here was the test. As I prepared to swing the sword, it was no longer a weapon. It was an extension of my own arm, almost literally. I was the sword, and the sword was me. I struck, and the hound fell with one stroke of the sword. As it fell, the sword glowed brightly, and I felt a warmth in the hilt. The hound, however, screamed in agony. While I had felt warmth, the hound had felt a searing burn.

I decided I liked this sword. I also decided I didn't want to go back to Belaya just yet. So I headed for the grove, hoping to meet some more kath hounds along the way, just to test the sword's effectiveness. I took the eastern path south, so I passed through a large group of kath hounds on my way through the Matale grounds. I attacked a group that seemed to be gathered around a corpse, killing them all while sustaining only a few small wounds. I turned my attention to the dead settler. His corpse had been mauled, and I turned away to keep from looking at it. It was not a pretty sight. Then my eyes lit on a datapad. Retrieving it, I discovered that it was Casus Sandral's diary. Oh, shit, here we go.

I stowed it in my backpack, figuring I'd take care of it later, and continued south to the grove. I killed a few more isolated kath hounds on the way to Juhani's sanctuary, sustaining no more injuries worth noticing. I passed through the grove, not seeing anything noteworthy, and moved into the Sandral grounds. I killed a couple of kath hounds and was in the process of surveying the landscape when something caught my eye. The crystal cave.

I entered, gripping the hilt of my sword tightly. I was well aware that the place was infested with kinrath. Why I entered, I have no idea. Call it destiny, call it the will of the Force, I don't know. All I know is, it was a lot more complicated than it was in the game. In the game it was a fairly straight path right to the goal: the crystals. Here, there were forks, a lot of them. I tried to stay on the same path, but found it to be impossible.

"Damn it!" I swore aloud. "I should have left a trail. At least I haven't met any kinrath."

I shouldn't have said anything. A tentacle-like arm shot out of the darkness, knocking me backwards several feet. Kinrath. Before I could move, it was upon me, legs seeming to number in the hundreds, all trying to attack me. Of course, there was only one, but it seemed like an entire herd of them, trying to get me. Finally I managed to raise my sword and stab it in one of its legs. It flinched backwards as my sword glowed with the same white light, and it keeled over backwards, twitching. I managed to finish it off with a good stab.

But I was still hopelessly lost, and now I was worried about bats. I thought I'd seen something flying around in the cave earlier, and I didn't want any more creatures attacking me. Especially bats. Bats are cute, but when they're attacking you, especially if it's in a swarm, they're damn scary. But I digress. The point is, I was trying to find my way through this cave guided only by the light of my sword, when a shadow swooped over my head. I ducked, and the creature turned around to make a second pass. Except this time, I saw some of its tail feathers shining in the darkness, along with the front edges of its wings. _Feathers._ It was a bird, not a bat. And it landed on my shoulder.

_Lost, are we?_ The tone of voice was sardonic, except the voice was in my mind, and it was my own. I turned my head to the left, staring incredulously at the bird, black except for the silver feathers and the size of a hawk.

_Yeah, I'm talking to you,_ said the voice. _Big whoop. Don't question. Well,_ it amended, _unless you want to ask for my help…_

"Who are you?" I asked aloud. My voice echoed around the silent cave.

_Good freaking job,_ muttered the bird in my head. _Now every kinrath in the place knows where we are. I would leave you to die, but it would get on my conscience. No, no, no. Don't say a word. Think it, I'll hear you, and the kinrath won't. _

_Well, that's useful,_ I said.

_Damn straight. Now who are you? _

_I could be asking you that. _

_But I asked first. _

_Fine. My name is Athena Sapphire, and I'm exploring to test the effectiveness of my sword. _

_Nice sword. Be careful with it. Once it's imbibed with the Force, it will be able to defeat a lightsaber. It will bond with its wielder and do whatever they may ask of it. _

_And you know this exactly how? _

_It's enough that I know. And I know a way to enhance its power. Follow me. _

The bird took off and flew ahead. I could only follow it because of the light from its tail feathers.

_I'm not an _it, _you _di'kut!

_Then what are you? _

_I am a she, thank you very much. _

_All right then. You got a name? _

_Not in your language. I'll be sticking around for a while, so I'll let you decide. _

_You mean I get to name you? _

_No, you get to suggest names and I'll choose. Don't get the impression you own me. I am my own person, but now I'm… bonded to you. _

_Okay, that's just weird. But whatever. Names. Well, I'm Athena, and her Roman counterpart is Minerva… _

_Oh, no you don't. Hell no. Not happening. _

_Okay, okay, it was just a suggestion. Venus? _

_That another Roman counterpart, whatever that means? Don't like those. _

_Are you just being difficult on purpose? _

_Maybe. _

_Damn it, bird! Ummm…. _A song popped into my head. _Valkyrie. _

_What does it mean? _

_It's the name of a Norse goddess. Or rather, the Valkyries are a group of Norse goddesses. Something to do with death and deciding who dies on a battlefield. I think. _

_Sounds badass. Right up my alley. We have an agreement. _

All this while, I hadn't been noticing where we were going. I was just following the bird's tail, shining in front of me. But now I saw it. We were in the crystal cavern, and it shone around me, each crystal formation glowing with its own light.

_Pick a crystal,_ said Valkyrie. _You'll find that the cube at the end of your hilt will fit one of them, and it will greatly enhance the properties of that sword. _

_This sword will hold a crystal? _

_Maybe. I don't know. I'm sure that cube was meant to house something. Perhaps it's a krayt dragon pearl, perhaps it's a lightsaber crystal. You never know. _

Inadvertently, my eyes were drawn to the center of the cavern, to the largest crystal formation. It glowed bright white, and as I touched it, it seemed to mold itself into a perfect sphere, falling directly into my hand. The crystal's light pulsed, shining pure white.

_That crystal…_ Valkyrie whispered in awe, _it is as bonded to you as I am. Take it, and keep it. It will serve you well. _

I closed my fingers around the crystal, then stabbed my sword into the ground and placed it on the end of the cube on the hilt of my sword. The crystal seemed to be absorbed into the hilt, and the sword glowed brilliantly. I seized the hilt and felt a link, almost as though the sword were alive and waiting for my command. I thought the first thing that came to mind: _Burn._

The blade of the sword glowed white-hot. Not fire, but close enough.

_Ah,_ cried Valkyrie, _umm, that's kinda hot. If you don't mind… _

_Sorry,_ I replied. _Stop._ I thought. The sword died down.

_Well done, Sapphire. You've mastered the sword. Now you get to name it. And no, you're not naming it Excalibur,_ she added before I could suggest it. _Think about it while we head back to the Enclave. _

_On it,_ I sighed inwardly as Valkyrie led me out of the cave.

**A/N: There you have it. I really like birds, so I decided I wanted one. I like her, personally, but tell me what you think! I say this all the time, but review if you have a moment. It really makes me feel good about myself :) Love you all! (that's not creepy, I promise). Have a fantastic rest of your life between now and my next update! (not sure that makes sense, but I hope you know what I mean!)**


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: You torture me with this every single time... just kill me already! (just kidding, I still don't own this, but I do own my life and I'd very much like to keep it that way) **

**A/N: And here we are. Thank my procrastination instincts for this one. I really don't want to work on my art history project, and I figured since no one else was updating their fanfictions, nothing interesting was happening on Facebook, and I have just the right amount of self-control to stay off SWTOR, updating my own fic would give me a good reason to keep not doing my project. Or my college essays. Or my chem lab report. Or... well, I don't want to bore you with the list of things I have to do, especially when you have a (hopefully) good chapter of fanfic waiting for you. Happy reading!**

Chapter Seven

Thinking back on it, it's a wonder that I trusted that bird. Not that she proved untrustworthy, just that the circumstances were extremely sketchy. I was lost in a cave, and a _bird_ of all things shows up and starts talking in my head. But she gave me good advice, and somehow, she was able to heal the wounds the kinrath had given me, thereby strengthening our bond. We were literally tied together, mind and soul. It was a bit creepy, to be honest.

_Hey, I heard that!_

_Shut up, Val! _

Sorry about that.

Anyway, I headed back to the Enclave to meet Belaya, the sword in my hand, the crystal in the sword. Valkyrie was perched on my shoulder. Belaya was in the courtyard waiting for me.

"I see you've managed to enhance your sword of your own accord," she said approvingly, raising an eyebrow.

"You should be a poet," I muttered.

"Sorry?"

"Nothing."

"All right then," she gave me a strange look. "I can only enhance it a little further, and I will have to use you as a vessel if you are going to be able to wield it properly. It already has a cortosis weave, and you've been able to enhance it with a crystal. Now all I can do to ensure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands is give it strong ties to the light side of the Force."

"And how are you going to use me?"

"I shall channel the Force through you. The Force lives in everything, whether it is manifested or not. I shall harness the Force within you and use it to enhance the sword's properties still further. Once we are finished, you should be a match for any Dark Jedi, except perhaps the strongest of the Sith Masters. Shall we begin?"

She escorted me back to my room, where we sat on the floor. She instructed me to put my hands on the hilt of the sword, and I did. She then placed her hands on my shoulders and told me to close my eyes and focus on the sword and nothing but the sword. I did as she asked.

As I sat there, the sword foremost in my thoughts, I felt a warmth surge through me, starting in my shoulders where Belaya's hands touched me, running all the way down my arms into the hilt of the sword. It felt… _powerful, _like I had the world at my fingertips, like I could do absolutely _anything._ It was the most beautiful thing I had ever felt. And then it was gone. I opened my eyes and looked up. Belaya's eyes met mine.

"It is done," she said. "The sword will serve only the light side of the Force, and it will serve you better than any other, for it is bonded to you."

"Right…" I muttered. "Thanks, Belaya."

"I shall leave you now," she said, bowing and retreating from my room.

I went out every day after that, training against the kath hounds. A couple times, I even met some Mandalorians. I had a bit of trouble with them at first, but I managed to defeat them without any serious injuries. Then I found Elise's droid.

"Please kill me," it begged, having told me its story of a crazy mistress who thought the droid was her dead husband and tried to treat it as such.

"You suicidal or something?"

"It would be better if I were no longer a factor," the droid said. "She would meet new people. Living people."

I bowed my head in consent. "Very well. I'll destroy you and tell her why."

"Thank you!" the droid cried. "Thank you!" I ran my sword through its core, and it died in a shower of sparks. The metal glinted dully, the lifeless eyes staring out at me.

I sighed and turned around, heading for the path north so I could deliver the news to Elise.

Unfortunately, they were waiting for me.

"So, you're the one who's been causing all these problems," said the red-armored man.

"Yup, that would be me," I said, grinning. Without any further ado, I attacked.

As I fought them, it was much more like the sword was controlling me than me controlling the sword. And the sword was way more skilled than I was. At the same time, however, it wasn't like it was dragging my arm around, more like my mind had melded with the sword and the sword was currently in control of my body.

The fight was quick, and much easier than I ever could have dreamed. It was when I withdrew the sword from stabbing the leader in the neck that I discovered something strange. The sword should have been bloodstained, but it wasn't. It just shone bright silver as it had always done.

_Strange,_ I thought.

_I've seen stranger,_ said Valkyrie from behind me, fluttering down to perch on my shoulder. I glared at her.

_Shut up. _

_Why should I? _she demanded. _And yeah, I told you not to name the sword Excalibur. Surely you can be more creative than that. _

_Well, maybe…_ I tried to think of other things from my favorite TV shows or movies. _Anything in mind, Val?_

_Course not. It's your sword. _

_Fine, I'll work on it. Hold on a second. I can name it for home. Actually, well I have two options. Do you like Terra or Neptune? _

_I sort of like Terra, why?_

Another inspiration sprang to mind. _Actually I lied. It's Neptune. The Neptune Spoon, to be precise._

_Why don't I get a say? _Snapped the bird. _At least if you're going to ask me, follow through and listen to my advice._

_Nope. Neptune Spoon reminds me of my brother. I'm sticking to it. Plus, Neptune's way cooler than Terra. Terra just means earth. Neptune is the god of the sea. _

_Whatever. _I could almost hear the bird rolling her eyes, and she descended into a stony silence.

I sighed audibly and continued on my way, making it back to the courtyard without further incident, though not without a few more scathing remarks from Valkyrie about my naming abilities.

_Oh, shut up, bird! I don't expect you to—_

"My droid is still missing!" Elise accused from about twenty feet away. "I can feel his absence like a hole in my aching heart. I NEED HIM BACK!"

"Whoa, there, lady," I said. "Chill out. First of all… you're a bit psycho. Second… well, I'm sorry to say it, but I found your droid. He… he'd been attacked by Kath hounds. He was destroyed." Strictly speaking, it was the truth, just cleverly phrased so it didn't sound like I had done the destroying.

"My droid?! Destroyed?! No!" Elise burst into tears and ran off in the direction of the Enclave.

_Stupid woman,_ I muttered to Valkyrie.

_We can agree on that one,_ the bird replied.

_Back to the Enclave? _

_You're the boss. _

Valkyrie flew off to hunt on the plains, and I headed back to my room. Now that I had gotten my sword and tested it… I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. I sure as hell wasn't going to become a farmer. I wouldn't be caught dead doing that. I activated the door control to my room and sighed, closing my eyes. As such, I didn't notice I had a visitor until she said, "Athena!"

My eyes snapped open and took in the scene in front of me. My bed was occupied. Well, someone was sitting on it, at least. Dark red, curly hair fell around her shoulders and bounced as she turned her head towards me. Gray eyes sparkled out of her sockets. A crooked smile graced her features.

"Caeli!" I was more shocked than I had been in the last month and a half. "What are you doing here?"

"Don't look so shocked, Athena, I did say I'd come visit you. And Carth, surprisingly enough, agreed with me. How've you been?"

"Bored as hell, but I got a bird and an awesome sword."

"A bird? I'll have to hear about this."

"Come on out to the plains, you can meet her."

I led her outside. Once we had gotten past Elise's speeder (she was still nowhere to be seen) and Adum Larp, I let out a shrill whistle.

_Val, come here,_ I thought at the same time.

_Was the whistle really necessary?_ The bird came swooping down and landed on my shoulder, giving me what I assumed was a reproachful look.

"This is Valkyrie," I told Caeli. "She's pretty cool."

_Pretty cool? Thanks a lot, Sapphire. _

"She's also kind of sassy and a bit sarcastic," I added.

"And you know that exactly how?" Caeli asked curiously and somewhat skeptically.

"We're telepathic." I looked at the bird. "See, right now she's thinking you're probably a bit dim. Shut it, Val. That's not polite, this is the leader you're talking about."

_Hey! She wasn't supposed to know that! And this is the leader? If she's the leader, what's the rest of the group ;like?_

_Shut up, Val. She's a good person, a good friend, and a fantastic fighter. Deal with it. _

"Don't mind her," I said to Caeli. "She's kind of impossible. But she can use Force Heal, so that's always helpful. And, surprisingly enough, she's pretty good company. It's been a bit lonely with only Belaya around, and she's boring and preachy like Bastila."

Caeli cringed. "I can only imagine how you've suffered. Sorry about that. Oh, and we picked up a new party member. Some crazy old Jedi named Jolee. He seems to be wise in his own way, though. He'll be helpful."

"Where are you going next?"

"Tatooine. Hate deserts, but… might as well get it out of the way. And, well…"

"Yes?"

"Part of the reason I decided to come now was to ask if you wanted to come with."

My eyes widened. "Really? You want me to come along?" Don't get me wrong, I knew it was dangerous, I knew I could screw up the timeline, but at the moment, _anything_ was better than spending one more second on Dantooine. Caeli nodded in response to my question. "I'm in," I told her. "When do we leave?"

"As soon as you're ready."

**A/N: And that's that. Do I always say that? I can never remember. Anyway, yeah, I skipped out of writing Kashyyyk, but I'll be with the party from now on, so you'll get to see more of that. You like? Review if you have a second. Even a smiley face would pretty much make my day and give me further excuse to procrastinate (don't take that as a reason not to review, people!) as I read my email that I check about every thirty seconds when I get bored. Anyway, enough of that. You're all fantastic people! Have a great life until probably about tomorrow when I'll update again. See you!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Do I have to keep repeating myself? I don't own this, dammit! Seriously! (no, really, I don't) **

**A/N: I'm back (again). Still procrastinating. I did work on my project a little bit this morning, though. And now I'm back to being bored and I don't have any homework due until Monday so I thought I'd give you another chapter. It's kind of a short one, but here's the beginning of Tatooine. Apologies if I'm not that good at writing HK-47, I find it hard to get in his head :P. Might have something to do with the fact that I'm not a psychopath. Anyway, happy reading!**

Chapter Eight

The one thing I wasn't happy about was that I'd just condemned myself to another few days of travel on the _Ebon Hawk._ And this time, Jolee was there. His presence could always be counted on to make things interesting… whether that was in a good way or a bad way had yet to be determined.

He was even more eccentric than in the game, but he still had his wisdom nuggets. I got into a particularly interesting discussion of his view on the Jedi policies on love. And I wholeheartedly agreed with him. I did realize the Jedi had a point that love could be dangerous (case in point: Anakin Skywalker), but I also knew that love could save someone (as in the case with light sided male Revan and Bastila or the cut ending with dark side female Revan and Carth). All in all, he was a crazy old man, but in a strange way, I respected him.

And then we landed on Tatooine. And Caeli decided it would be a fantastic idea for _me_ to accompany her out into Anchorhead. I decided this was not a good plan, but I did it anyway. Unfortunately, I turned out to be right.

Carth and I were the ones to accompany her. And we ended up facing three Dark Jedi. That sure went well. We all sustained minor injuries, but nothing too fancy; Caeli managed to knock them all over with a Force Wave at the beginning of the battle. I did my best to parry the blows without getting chopped to bits, but it seemed more like my sword was working for me, controlling my movements. And then, a miracle. I struck down one of the Dark Jedi. Or rather, my sword did. I couldn't tell which. We might as well have been one entity.

I spun to find that the other two had already fallen to Caeli. Brilliant woman. Except at the moment, standing over one of the corpses, lightsabers in hand, in a battle stance, she looked absolutely terrifying. After a moment she lowered her weapons and looked at both of us.

"What now?" she asked.

"We need to find a way to get outside the walls. From what I've picked up from random conversations I've heard, you need some sort of authorization. I'd recommend visiting Czerka offices for that."

Caeli pulled a face. "Hate Czerka. But yeah, you're right. You two see if you can get any information from the cantina or the hunting lodge."

"Right-o," I agreed cheerily. "See you later!" She headed off for the Czerka office while Carth and I turned in the direction of the Cantina.

As soon as she was out of sight, Carth looked at me. "So, where are we going to end up?"

"Well, the droid shop, but…"

"Then let's head there now. There's no point getting information if you already have it all."

I sighed.

Its eyes were glowing.

Its eyes were glowing red-orange, the light stuttering with every syllable it spoke. In the game, I loved the thing, but here, it towered over me, at least six feet tall, and constantly seeming possessed from the glow in its eyes.

Caeli, who had joined us barely five minutes after we arrived in the shop, frowned at it. "You're starting to sound like an assassin."

I refrained from snorting. _It is an assassin,_ I kept myself from telling her.

"I am a law-abiding droid!" the monster insisted. "Yes indeed! Law-abiding, that's me!"

This time, I couldn't help snorting. Caeli shot me a look, but the damage has been done.

"Exclamation: The meatbag doubts me!" the droid cried in mock offense.

"What do I get out of this?" Caeli asked, hurriedly distracting it. "If I buy you, I mean."

"We don't seem to have a choice, Cael," I told her. "Unless you want to run into the Sand People enclave with guns blazing, we need his translation skills. And, according to him and Yuka Laka, he's a hell of a fighter. Don't even think about paying 5,000 for him, though."

"I wasn't going to, why?"

I could feel my face burning. "Never mind. Just… don't."

She gave me a strange look. "You're not getting out of this, Sapphire. Explain."  
I slapped a palm to my forehead. "Dammit! I'll explain later. It's a bit of a long story."

"All right," Caeli sighed, turning back to the droid. "Sure, I'll buy you."

As HK exclaimed in glee, Caeli turned back to the Ithorian. "Okay, I'm interested. Let's talk price."

As Yuka Laka replied, her expression rapidly changed from neutral to shocked to amazed. Slowly, she turned her head to look at me.

"How did you know?" she whispered.

"I told you, _later,_" I hissed back. "Not here."

Turning back to the Ithorian, she said, "That price is outrageous! For that piece of junk? 2500. That's my final word."

They engaged in a heated debate which continued for at least five minutes, HK-47 watching in glee. It finally concluded with Caeli forcing the shop owner to agree to her original offer of 2500 credits. She returned to the droid somewhat warily.

"Observation: I see you have purchased me, Master. I find this a satisfactory arrangement. Query: Am I to accompany you now? Shall I kill something for you?"

Caeli blinked. "Kill something for me?"

If the droid could have grinned, it would have. "Indeed. I am most eager to engage in some unadulterated violence. At your command, of course, Master."

"Come on, then," she said. "Let's head back to the ship. I think Athena here has some explaining to do." I grimaced, but followed her without further complaint. Now was as good a time as any, I supposed.

**A/N: Dun dun DUUNNNN! (not really). I might actually give you the next chapter later tonight cuz this one's short. Don't count on it, though, I usually end up being lazy and my internet turns off at 10:16. So, yeah...I don't really have anything more to say, and I'm sure you don't want to listen to me rambling. Bye!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Do I seriously have to remind you _again?_ I don't own this stuff! Don't I wish... **

**A/N: Well, I'm having a very good day and I'm feeling charitable so here's another chapter. Time for the moment of truth, eh? I won't keep you hanging any longer... Read it! Read it!... Yeah. Happy reading! (I'm in a bit of a strange mood in case you can't tell)**

Chapter Nine

"Alone," I insisted. "Carth can come," I added when he opened his mouth to protest. "Come on."

I took Caeli and Carth to my quarters, sitting down on my bed and putting my face in my hands. I exhaled deeply. "Okay, Carth, I might need a bit of your help here. As you know very well, I'm bad at explaining it."

He nodded, and Caeli looked back and forth between us with her mouth half-open. "You know?" she demanded of him.

"Well, yeah," he said.

"And you didn't once think of telling me?" Caeli's eyes narrowed in anger, or at least potential anger.

"Hey, break it up," I cut in. "Cael, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. It's just… kind of a big deal, and I didn't want you thinking I was insane. I made Carth swear not to tell a soul. Anyways, if there's anyone you should be angry at, it's me. But I had my reasons. Now, though… I trust you, Caeli. I know you won't betray me to Malak or anyone, or lock me up wherever it is crazy people go. I can tell you."

"Well, then get on with it," she prompted, still sounding slightly irritated.

"Right. Here goes. I'm kind of from an alternate universe. Might be the past, might be the future. Almost definitely another galaxy. I got zapped here by a bolt of lightning that shot out of my computer when I was playing a game. That game was called Knights of the Old Republic, KotOR for short. That game was your story."

"So wait a second… you're saying you know my story? My future?"

"Well, kind of. I know several potential versions of your future. In the game, the player's choices determined the outcome. I played as you. Your choices determine the fate of the galaxy." I paused. "No pressure."

She sighed. "Great. So can you tell me these endings, or will it screw up the balance of reality?"

"Screw up the balance of reality," Carth answered for me. "But she can give advice, and I would recommend listening to it."

"So wait," I looked over at Caeli. "You actually believe me?" Carth had been surprising enough, but Caeli too? This was just getting weird.

"Well, Carth believes you," she pointed out. "If you've achieved what seems to be impossible, why should I question you? Plus, it makes sense. Everything fits."

"It does?"

"Yeah. You know things. Carth trusts you. That in itself is extremely odd." Caeli shot Carth a pointed look.

Carth opened his mouth to retort.

"Oi! Break it up, we have work to do. Come on, we have to get into the desert and make contact with the Sand People."

"I'm coming with you," said Carth instantly."

"Noooo, you're not." Caeli's voice contained a half-laugh as she said it.

"You have no idea what kind of things you'll be facing out there!" Carth exclaimed in exasperation, "and I can't do you much good stuck in here, can I? I don't want you facing them alone!"

"Why, 'cause you don't trust me?" she shot back. Carth tried to speak but she cut him off. "And plus, who said I'd be alone? I'll have the droid." Carth opened his mouth again. "And I'd also like Athena to come, if she's willing."

"Me? Seriously? Out there? With Sand People? Umm, are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Sure. You can fight, you've got that sword, and we'll have the droid for backup. What could go wrong?"

"I should have told her those are famous last words," I growled to myself as the Jawas spoke their chirrupy language around me. The deal had gone as usual, and the Chieftain of the Sand People had sent Caeli back to get him Czerka's moisture vaporators, but he had insisted on keeping a hostage to make sure she would come back. The droid flat-out refused and no one felt like arguing with him, and since Caeli herself couldn't stay (even though she tried), I was the logical choice. Brilliant. So here I was, with no company except the Jawas, as I had instructed Valkyrie to stay near the Hawk, and I could literally feel my skin burning. When this was over, I was going to have the worst sunburn of my life.

"Caeli Jayde, I am going to kill you," were my first words when she returned for me. "Do you have any idea what kind of sunburn I have? It literally feels like hell in there!"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry." She cringed. "And sorry again, but he gave me the map. We have to go get the Star Map."

I made a frustrated sound. "Remind me to kill you when we've defeated Malak."

Caeli laughed. "I'll be sure to do that. Come on, let's go."

We headed back out into the Sand People's territory, Caeli keeping the pace at a walk for my benefit. HK would randomly shoot any desert wraid or dewbacks we came across, making his impatience with the lack of violence quite plain.

Finally after what seemed like hours, we reached the cave and the hunter outside it. He stared into the cave with a rather alarmed expression on his face. I guessed that his friend had just been eaten by the Krayt dragon.

Caeli greeted him, and they entered an entire conversation in Huttese, none of which I understood, and I didn't even hear a single 'Jidabadawananeedibobo,' though I may have imagined one or two. Finally, Caeli broke away.

"Come on, kids," she said. "Let's feed the animals." She pulled out her bantha fodder.

"Oh, right, this is the fun part," I grumbled.

"You won't have to do a thing," she assured me. "They'll all be dead before they knew what hit them. Although, you might want to have a hand on that sword of yours, just in case."

"Comforting. Thanks."

She was true to her word, however, and I only had to fight off one of the elite Sand People warriors. And really, after a Dark Jedi… well, let's just say it wasn't as challenging as it could have been.

Once they were dead, we led the banthas to the mouth of the cave, as we had been instructed by our new Twi'lek friend, Mr. Jidabadawananeedibobo, better known as Komad Fortuna. However, all thought of that was removed from my mind when the dragon emerged.

He was enormous. Just one of his front legs was both taller and thicker than I was. He was about the size of a commercial airplane, if not a bit larger. My eyes widened, my body rooted to the spot by sheer terror. I barely flinched at the mine explosions. I was much more focused on the creature that could have me for a midnight snack if it wanted to.

It took exactly nine explosions to kill it. I couldn't remember if that was more or less than in the game. In fact, I couldn't think coherently at all. I let out a soft whimper as it hit the ground with a thud that must have shaken the earth for miles around. I wouldn't have been surprised if they'd felt it back at the settlement. As Caeli moved forward to examine its corpse, I experimented with moving my legs and found myself still rooted to the spot. I took several deep breaths to calm myself and tried again. This time, I was successful. I took a slow, laborious step forward, my shoe landing in the hot sand. In this manner, each successive step growing faster, I managed to enter the cool shelter of the cave.

Caeli had already looted the place and was gazing, transfixed, at the Star Map. I walked up to her side, rather in awe myself. It was the first Star Map I had ever actually seen, and it was beautiful. The projections of stars twinkled and shone like real stars, the center of the galaxy sparkled with color. But at the same time, I could almost sense the darkness emanating from it. It was beautiful, but it was terrible. I was as transfixed as Caeli seemed to be.

Finally, after what could have been minutes or hours, she stirred, pulling out her datapad to transfer the map's data. "One step closer," she murmured. "Three down, two to go."

She stood, watched me for a moment, then snapped her fingers in front of my face. "Sapphire. Snap out of it. We need to go."

Still in somewhat of a daze, I nodded, turning to leave the cave with Caeli. It had been my first Star Map, and I honestly hoped it was my last. Despite the intense heat, I shivered involuntarily. I had no desire to feel that darkness again.

**A/N: That's that. And don't you forget it! Sorry I kinda made Tatooine short, I'm not a huge fan of that planet (other than HK-47 of course). Up next: well, I'll leave you on a cliffhanger for that one. It's a good deal longer though. Have a great day! I'm taking the SAT tomorrow (ew) but I should get another chapter up in the afternoon, hopefully. Bye!**


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, I know... this doesn't actually belong to me! Merf. **

**A/N: Heyyy how are you all? I'm bored and procrastinating (again) and I have to move my entire room down the hall later today so fun stuff! Busy weekend here. The project I'm procrastinating on is due Thursday but possibly Tuesday (evil, right?). But enough of me, you probably want the story. Here you are, then. Time for the next planet! Happy reading! **

Chapter Ten

I could still feel a slight chill from the effects of the map as we entered the Ebon Hawk. My body was back to being hot as hell, but the cold was inside, in my mind. I could still feel the darkness.

"Come on, Onasi," I heard Caeli say. "Let's get out of this hell-hole."

"Allons-y," I muttered to myself.

"Where are we going?" I heard Mission ask.

"Korriban," Caeli replied, sounding uncharacteristically cheerful.

I groaned.

"Hey," Caeli came over to me. "It can't be half as bad as this desert."

I restrained myself from snorting with great difficulty. If only she knew… "All right," I said in my best skeptical voice. "Let's go then. Might as well get the Sith den over with."

"That's the spirit." Caeli clapped me on the shoulder and headed into the cockpit to supervise Carth.

The trip to Korriban was uneventful at best, dead boring at worst. It mostly consisted of playing pazaak, with the occasional round of dejarik between Canderous and Jolee. However, I did notice (and I was sure Mission did too; nothing escaped her) that Caeli was spending quite a lot of time in the cockpit talking to Carth. I stored this information in my head for later use and returned to polishing the Neptune Spoon, not that it ever really needed polishing. It was more out of extreme boredom and lack of anything else to do than anything.

Valkyrie was actually extremely helpful during those few days. She was a very… interesting person (well, bird, I guess) to talk to, and she was able to have conversations with the rest of the crew through me (those who would listen, anyway. Bastila resolutely refused to believe that a bird was speaking to me telepathically and dismissed me as either insane or playing a very clever practical joke). She actually became quite friendly with Juhani, and the three of us often held random conversations in the dull moments of our journey (which were quite frequent, believe me).

When we finally touched down on the rocky planet, we convened in the main hold for our usual meeting. Unsurprisingly, Caeli was the first to speak.

"Carth, HK, you're with me. Everyone else, _stay here._ I don't want anyone getting in unnecessary danger. Bastila especially. They might recognize you." Leaving no room for argument, she took the two companions she had designated and left the ship almost immediately and completely without ceremony.

I sighed. "I hate it when she does that."

We stayed on the Hawk for at least three hours, with me getting up intermittently to pace around impatiently. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm going out," I announced to the ship at large.

Mission jumped up immediately. "I'm coming with you."

I hesitated for a few moments before agreeing. "All right. It's probably safer if there are two of us, anyway. Let's go."

I led the way out in the direction of the settlement, all the while trying to hide the fact that I knew exactly where I was going. Mission followed me without question, which was an entirely new and extremely welcome change. Everything was going fine until we were stopped by the port authority with the evil-sounding voice at the entrance to Dreshdae. I looked at Mission, who nodded.

"He's asking for authorization," she whispered to me. "And payment."

"We're with the owner of the Ebon Hawk. She asked us to meet her," I told him, trying to inject as much authority into my voice as possible. He nodded and spoke again.

"He apologizes profusely and will immediately allow us entrance to the settlement," Mission translated.

I couldn't help grinning. I love it when people listen to me. "Brilliant. Thank you, sir."

We entered the settlement, which had several more doors and corridors than I knew, but I managed to find my way thanks to the large central corridor. That, I assumed, was the only part they actually included in the game.

There was no point going to the Academy, as they would kick us out immediately, so I decided to turn off into the Cantina: The Drunk Side. So many times I'd heard that pun, and I still thought it was funny.

Mission went to get us drinks, entrusting to me the task of finding seats. There was an empty table, but I figured it might be more advantageous, if a little more dangerous, to try and get information from one of the Sith students. Spotting one who was seemingly alone and quite clearly on the edge of drunkenness, I headed over to her.

"Hey, do you mind if my friend and I sit with you? We're new to Korriban and we'd like to find out a bit more about it."

Definitely the wrong approach. She stared at me like I was a piece of dirt, which, in her eyes, I probably was. "Do you think I'd waste my time with one of you pathetic settlers? I am a Sith, thank you very much. Get your information from your own kind!"

I took a deep breath. New approach. "How about we buy you a few drinks in exchange for some information and that precious time you could be spending training to take over the galaxy?"

If she found my change in attitude strange, she didn't show it. "Smart settlers," she commented. "Don't get those very often. Sit."

I sat. "What's your name?"

"My name?" I nodded. "Yours first," she demanded.

"Me? Um, okay," I said, stalling for time. "Venus," I decided at the last second. "Venus Rose."

"A pleasure, I'm sure, Venus Rose."

"And your name?" I prompted.

"Oh! Irena. Irena River."

"Pleasure to meet you too, Irena River. And this," I added as Mission came up with our drinks, "is my good friend…"

"Jayde," Mission filled in for me. "Jayden Vao, but I go by Jayde. And you're Irena, if I heard correctly?"

Irena nodded. "So, you get me drinks, I give you information, how does that sound?"

Almost an hour and several drinks later, Irena was talking a mile a minute. At first, all she did was whine about her sorrows- she and her boyfriend had split up, and her best friend had recently been killed on a mission, which was why she was in the cantina in the first place- but then we asked her questions about the Sith Academy, and we found out a surprising amount of information.

First off, she wasn't actually a student, just an archaeologist. She was studying the Tomb of Marka Ragnos, but it was driving her to extreme lengths of frustration, because of what she called "that blasted droid." She had very few actual friends at the Academy, just her now ex-boyfriend, her friend who'd been killed, and one other. She liked to feel important (as I had already figured out by that point) so she liked to act like she was a student, hence the attitude. She even took out her datapad and showed us her ID and all her notes on the Tomb, along with a few other things.

By the time an hour was up, it was getting a little bit late, so we decided to head back to the ship. However, Irena decided it would be a brilliant idea to follow us to our ship, because, as she put it, "Can't let...Shith… shee me like thish…. Looksh weak…"

We couldn't get anything else out of her, which might have had something to do with the fact that she could hardly string two words together. I sighed, turning to Mission. "Let's just take her with us. I have an idea…"

**A/N: Yup! Terrifying, right? And in case you hadn't noticed, I have no idea how to write drunk people :). And if anyone got my vague references (they're really very vague) they get brownie points. Have a great day! Don't know how long it'll be, but within the next few days you'll have another update. Gotta get this project done XP See ya later!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: You all know exactly what I'm going to say. Should I say it in a different language sometime? I don't own this. Maybe I'll copy it in in Aurebesh... **

**A/N: Hey, it's Monday morning, and I'm awake! This is different. (and I don't mean literally awake, I mean mentally awake). Anyway, I'm a big fan of this chapter (I know, I wrote it, but I like it anyway. Brain wave of brilliance here :P) so I hope you enjoy it! Happy reading!**

Chapter Eleven

The Sith uniform was a little loose on me. I looked the part of a teenager in way over her head. Fortunately, two of my best friends were a Twi'lek street urchin with a surprising talent for fashion and makeup and an astromech droid who could do pretty much anything with a computer. Mission gave me a complete makeover, temporarily dying my hair black like the Sith woman's, styling it similarly, even cutting it a little bit, and almost going overboard on the makeup. T3 changed the woman's datapad so that my picture (my new, improved self, of course, courtesy of Mission) was on it for identification purposes, but with her name: Irena River.

Finally, I was ready, and I was pretty convinced that I was absolutely wacko. So was Mission, apparently. As she handed me Irena's bag, containing the altered ID, she shook her head at me. "I still think you're crazy," she informed me.

"I'm not crazy!" I defended myself, not quite believing it.

"Right." Mission rolled her eyes. "You got a Sith drunk, locked her in our cargo hold, stole her uniform, and are planning to infiltrate the Sith academy by impersonating her. Not crazy. You just keep telling yourself that."

I almost chickened out. But I didn't want all Mission's good work to go to waste. Add to that, I had this gut-feeling something bad was going to happen to Caeli. Worse than being attacked by two terentatek. This wasn't _predictable_ bad, this was _unforeseen _bad.

So I kept going. I walked up to the guard at the door, and when he asked for my ID, I pulled it out, showing it to him.

"Very well, Irena. You may pass."

I shook my newly acquired bangs out of my face and put on my best condescending tone. "That's Miss River to you, soldier."

"My apologies, Miss River." The guard gave a slight bow, which I acknowledged with a nod before moving into the academy.

Since Irena was an archaeologist, I decided it would be in my best interest to head for the Valley of the Dark Lords, and hopefully I would be able to orient myself enough to find out where I was supposed to go without looking suspicious. Maybe I'd find someone I could trust, someone who could help me maintain the ruse without drawing attention. But I couldn't count on that. As far as I knew, as far as I could assume, I was on my own. Not even Caeli and Carth could know I was here, and HK wouldn't care.

I had to restrain myself from sneaking as I emerged into the canyon that led to the Valley of the Dark Lords. I reminded myself that I was supposed to belong, that I was playing a role here. Problem: I'd never been much of an actor. Mostly because I got stage fright like no other. But here, any mistake could be fatal. I couldn't afford to mess up.

As the valley opened up before me, however, I had trouble acting the part of an archaeologist who came here every day. The view was magnificent. The central pillars, crumbling in their old age, past their glory days. The sunset, vibrant and orange behind them. And the dark tomb doors, two on each side of the valley, shrouded in mystery, thrill, and danger. In other words, I did not want to go anywhere near them. Unfortunately, according to my ID, I was an archaeologist studying the Tomb of Marka Ragnos, which, if I remembered correctly, was the one with the crazy assassin droid in it that would kill you if you made a sound. Just what I needed.

I was so absorbed, I had no idea I was walking forward, nor that I was about to crash into a young Sith archaeologist. When we collided, I stumbled backwards, managing to keep from falling with great difficulty. He wasn't as lucky. Datapads went flying in every direction as he tumbled to the ground, landed in a somersault, and stood up again as though he'd never fallen. Then he paused, dusted himself off, and started to collect the datapads he'd dropped. I rushed to help him.

"Here," I said, handing him a couple of them. "Sorry."

"Irena?" he asked. I started. Did I really look enough like her for someone to recognize me? Maybe it was the hair. It was pretty distinctive.

I realized he was waiting for me to respond. "Yeah?" I asked, not being able to think of anything else to say.

"…Why are you treating me like a stranger?" he asked slowly.

"S-sorry," I muttered again, nervous. If he found out… I supposed he was a friend of Irena's. Because they did have friends among the Sith. I'd almost forgotten that Dustil had to save his friends once you redeemed him from the dark side.

"See, there you go again!" he cried, seemingly frustrated. I flinched back. "Hey," he said, "I won't hurt you. You're just lucky you ran into me and not, say, Lashowe. She'd have murdered you on the spot. Or Kel Algwinn, he's just a creep. Come with me."

For some inexplicable reason, I followed him. All my warning bells were on, screaming that it was a trap, that I should turn and run, but I followed him anyway. For some reason, I found it within myself to trust him, maybe just because he hadn't murdered me on the spot like many other Sith would have done. The only problem with that logic is that a lot of Sith are smart as well as cruel.

He led me in the direction of Ajunta Pall's tomb, and I was instantly on alert. If he tried to lure me in there to get me killed… well, it would spare him the trouble of doing it himself. I kept one hand on my holstered blaster as we kept going towards the door, around which, I could now see, black fog swirled. Great.

"We're—we're going in there?" I managed to squeak, still sounding less terrified than I felt.

"You've been inside tombs before, Irena," he muttered.

"Yeah, but not this one!"

"We're only going right inside, there aren't any traps. Or even tuk'ata. You'll be perfectly safe, now _come on._"

He led me inside the tomb, and the black mist that had shrouded the door was everywhere. All around it swirled, seeming to have a mind of its own, and I could feel the cold finger of evil touching my soul. The fog wound around me just as the electricity had back before all of this started, back when I was just a normal human being trying to get through high school.

"What do you want from me?" I demanded, trying to flinch back, but I discovered that I couldn't move a muscle. I was trapped, just as I had been in my desk chair, fingers poised over the keyboard.

"Who are you?" he asked. I took a breath to speak, but he cut me off. "I know you're not Irena. She's my best friend, and I want to know what happened to her." That I could understand.

"She's fine. She'll be returned to the Academy, unharmed, as soon as I've finished my work here."

"Which is what?"

Cover story time. "You have to promise me not to speak a word of this to anyone."

"That depends what you tell me."

"I'm not saying anything till you give me your word."

"Fine," he snapped. "I won't tell anyone. Happy?"

"Of course." I paused. "I am here," I began, "to test the effectiveness, security, and leadership of this academy. I've been sent by Lord Malak himself and will be staying here until the training of the new Sith this year is complete. But you can't say a word of this, please. If anyone knows Lord Malak is inspecting the place they'll all get on their best behavior, I won't be able to deliver an accurate report, and I'll probably end up being killed."

"Wow," he breathed. "You've met Darth Malak? Personally?"

I nodded.

"What's it like?" he breathed in awe.

"Overwhelming. I felt like I was the least significant little bug in the universe, and I… well, it's hard to explain. I was terrified out of my mind, though. I could feel this… this power emanating from him in waves, it almost overwhelmed me. And he had so much authority… any of his men (or women, to be fair) would do anything he told them without a second thought."

"Are you one of those?" he asked curiously.

"Not entirely," I told him. "I do have a will of my own, you know. I will follow his orders if they are within reason, but I refuse to destroy planets just for the sake of his unbridled cruelty. Fortunately, I'm not in command of any fleets, or I'd be dead."

"You wouldn't destroy a planet if you were ordered? Mercy is a weakness."

"I don't see it as mercy. I see innocent people, not allies, but certainly not enemies, going about their daily lives, being murdered on the spot for something over which they have no control. Like Taris… they had no warning, they had no means of defending themselves. And they all died, all for the sake of killing one Jedi who escaped at the last moment. All in vain. An entire planet. Billions of people. Entire cultures, all wiped from the face of the galaxy, and for what? In the hope that the Jedi who is most valuable to the Republic would die in the bombing. But she didn't die. She survived. So Taris was destroyed, really, for no reason at all. On a whim, Malak decided to wipe it out. Even the Sith who were unlucky enough to be stationed there lost their lives. I'm sorry to be ranting, but this is why I preferred Revan to Malak. Revan had strategic genius, and used it. Malak destroys worlds at random. Revan had a plan. Malak just wants power." My tone was bitter by the end of the rant. Then I realized what I'd done: shared my view of Malak and Revan with a random Sith boy. My view wasn't conventional Sith, either.

"Power is sought by all Sith," said the boy automatically.

"But what good is ruling the galaxy if there's no one left to rule? Revan was efficient. Malak's just all-around brutal."

The tendrils of mist wrapped around my throat and started cutting off my air. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you right here," snarled the boy.

"Because," I gasped, "I couldn't report back for my duty, Malak would send someone else, probably much less lenient than I am." I tried to snap at him, but since I was gasping for breath, it didn't work. The pressure on my neck lessened.

"What's your name?" he asked suddenly.

"For the sake of my cover, just call me Irena."

"No. She's my friend, and you're not her."

"Fine, then. Call me Rena. Or River. And you?"

"Galon Lor," he said without hesitation. "Archaeologist."

"Oh," I said inadvertently. He was the annoying-voiced boy who always stood outside of the tomb of Ajunta Pall and told you about Pall's sword. "Um… can you let me down now?"

"Ah. Right." The dark tendrils lowered me gently to the ground. "Well, if you're on a mission for Lord Malak I suppose I should help you. Fortunately for us, Irena's not all that popular, so not many people know her as well as I do. You did a pretty good job of imitating her as well," he added, gesturing at my disguise.

"Thanks. I need to find some way to observe all the basic functions of the academy without looking too suspicious. Do you have any connections who won't ask questions?"

"You should be a poet," he remarked dryly.

"Sorry if I can't help rhyming once in a while!" I snapped.

"Okay, calm down… River. I'll do what I can. Maybe I'll get you some interviews with the candidates for the Sith position this year. I'd be careful what you ask them, though. That new girl in particular seems remarkably vicious."

"Duly noted." Caeli was playing her part well if this kid thought she was vicious. Especially compared to people like Lashowe and Shardaan. "Shall we get started?"

**A/N: Okay, so the next chapter is actually better. I just like the concept in general. Props to anyone who got my Allons-y reference last chapter by the way! (Doctor Who is awesome :D) Have a fantastic rest of your Monday or whatever day you happen to be reading this on (I do like to plan ahead :P) Review if you have a minute! It really does make me happy! I've discovered that if I have a moment in which I'm bored and don't have enough time to play SWTOR I automatically check my Gmail to see if I have any new reviews, followers, or any of my favorite fics have been updated. Emails make me happy! (*hint hint* :P) Anyway, I've rambled long enough. Goodbye, dear readers!**


	13. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: You know the drill. I'm not going to say it again. I've put myself through plenty of agony, thank you very much. **

**A/N: Hi! I'm feeling very happy right now. Probably because I feel much more prepared for my project presentation tomorrow. It's amazing what adding one slide to a PowerPoint presentation can do for you. Anyway, here's the next chapter. I felt so proud of myself after writing this. I could rant on, but I won't. Happy reading!**

Chapter Twelve

Galon Lor introduced me to the ins and outs of the Sith Academy, along with ways the new Sith initiates would be trying to gain prestige. He was remarkably helpful, even if I did have to keep reminding him not to act like a tour guide. He helped me to learn Irena's character, so I could mimic her in actions as well as in looks. I felt surprisingly evil. I was using him for my own benefit, prepared to toss him out into the cold (metaphorically speaking) without a second thought. And the lying thing was coming more easily to me than it ever had before.

Irena, it turned out, didn't have that many friends. Only a few others had to be informed of my 'identity' in order to keep my cover, for only they would have recognized that I was not, in fact, Irena River. However, Galon had other friends he wished me to meet. One friend in particular piqued my interest, a young Sith student.

Generally the students with lightsabers believed themselves above the archaeologists, but not this one. He had been acquainted with Galon through a friend of his, a girl who had recently been killed on a mission, the girl who had convinced him to join the Sith. Therefore, when Galon offered to introduce us, he was almost as interested as I was.

The young man had a proud face. There is no other way to describe it. His jaw was square, his eyebrows dark, and his eyes piercing. His posture was impeccable; this only served to increase his appearance of nobility. He surveyed me without expression, even his eyes guarded by a seemingly impenetrable shield. Finally he nodded. I could only hope it was approval.

"Galon?" he asked. His voice was…. Well, how else can I put it? His voice was attractive. Even after one word, I could tell that. He sounded aristocratic, powerful, and… well, I have to say it: hot. I mean, he was attractive without the voice, but with it… _Sapphire… focus. _I could see why the Sith thought he had potential.

"This is Irena River," said Galon, right on cue.

"Call me River," I instructed him, bowing my head slightly in acknowledgement and, dare I say, respect.

"River, this is a good friend of mine, Dustil Onasi." Dustil shot me a half-smirk as he bowed, took my hand in his, and kissed the back of it.

"The pleasure is all mine," he murmured.

Well. This was different. The only side you ever really saw of him in the game was the rebellious teenager side, the angry side, the dark side. This was… well, charming. This was an attractive young man, standing here in front of me, and he'd just kissed my hand. This was not the annoying stubborn kid I knew from the game. Then again, maybe he was only like that when it came to Carth. It wouldn't surprise me.

"You new?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Relatively. Still getting used to the layout of the place. I've been known to forget where my quarters are." I chuckled a bit.

"And obviously you're an archaeologist, because the initiates are never this friendly," he pointed out.

I shrugged again, grinning. "You got me."

Dustil smiled. It looked somewhat out of place, but not entirely in a bad way. I was sure I'd get used to it in time, especially if Caeli's training took a while. A gong echoed somewhere in the distance. "That's my cue," said Dustil, looking disappointed. "Nice meeting you, River." He bowed to me and left.

I stared after him, hardly knowing what to think. My mind was forced to repeat the fact that he was charming. His manners were so… old-fashioned, and yet, it was endearing. If that's even the right word. It definitely made me more disposed to like him than I had been before. I definitely liked him more than Galon. I followed my guide to Irena's quarters, lost in speculation.

I met Dustil several times over the course of the next few days, and we became pretty good friends, as much as a pair of Sith could be. But he wasn't a bad person, he was just angry. And, knowing his thoughts on the subject of his father, that was hardly surprising. He hadn't talked to me about it yet, but I knew the gist of it from the game, and now I was starting to understand it.

A little over a week after our first meeting, I came upon him unexpectedly in one of my favorite places in the valley. It was just past the Tomb of Tulak Hord, among the rocks and cliffs of Korriban. A narrow path , barely visible unless you were looking for it, led through the rocks, deeper and deeper into a kind of canyon, which grew darker and darker until you came to the dead end. There, a small opening led to a small cavern, barely large enough to be comfortable for two people. It was there, in the back of the cave, where I liked to do my thinking. The coolness of the cave was a relief after the heat of Korriban's surface, and as far as I was aware, next to no one knew of the place's existence. I'd never met anyone there. They were probably all too busy going on killing rampages to care about a nice peaceful place to think.

Anyway, I found Dustil in my cave about a week after I met him. Now I'm not generally good at reading people, but I could tell he was upset. He was muttering to himself, glaring angrily at absolutely nothing. I decided to risk it.

"Dustil?" He whirled to face me, bashed his head on the roof of the cave, and fell to the ground, cursing.

"Damn it, River," he muttered. "Don't sneak up on me. If I was any less preoccupied, you'd be dead right now."

I looked down. "Sorry." I knew enough not to try to make excuses. He may have liked me from the start, he might be my friend, but he was still a Sith, still a Force user, and he still scared me.

Dustil merely grunted in reply to my apology. Something was definitely on his mind, and I had a pretty good idea what it was.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

He turned away. "Nothing," he snapped.

"Dustil, I know you well enough to—"

"Damn it, River, don't you know when to leave me alone? Clearly you don't know me well enough for that!"

I shrank back, afraid again, but I still wanted to know. "I've never seen you this angry, Dustil. What happened to you?"

"I swore I wouldn't tell, and even if I hadn't, I wouldn't be telling anyone but Master Uthar."

So I was right. I decided to pretend I was all smart and able to pick up on his emotions. "Blast from the past?" I asked, trying to put on a sympathetic face.

Apparently I failed, if his subsequent glare was anything to judge by. "None of your business." His tone told me I had hit the nail on the head and he was unnerved by it.

"Dustil." I waited. This _would_ work, it had to. I waited, gazing relentlessly at him, until he finally turned his head and met my eyes. He waited, but I didn't speak. He had to ask for it.

"What?" he finally asked grudgingly, almost rolling his eyes.

I gazed for another few seconds before speaking. "Tell me."

He broke eye contact, sighing heavily. I thought I'd failed and he wasn't going to tell me a damn thing, but then he spoke. His voice was hollow, devoid of emotion. "My father's here."

"Your—"

"I haven't told you about my father," he said. There was a pause. "I told you Malak bombed my home planet. My father's in the Republic Navy. And he was so damn devoted to the fleet he completely forgot about his obligation to family. My mother was left to raise me alone for years at a time, and when he did show up I found myself wishing he'd go back where he came from. He was never there for us, so why should he just show up and claim to be my father? He may have been my father by blood, but nothing else.

"Where was he when the Sith bombers started attacking? I don't know where he was, but I'll tell you where he wasn't. At home. With Mother and me. Where he should have been.

"And now, after all this time, he has the nerve to show up here and think I'll forgive him. As if. Then he starts spouting Republic propaganda at me and expecting me to listen. When I don't, he pulls the 'I'm your father' card. But he's not. He hasn't been my father for a long time." Dustil fell silent, staring moodily at the ground.

"I-I'm sorry. Did… did he say why he's here?"

"No, but there's some Jedi with him, posing as one of the Sith students this year. I don't know why they're here. I hope it's not just for me, because if it is, they'll be severely disappointed. I'm not going back, not unless they find absolute proof the Sith are as evil as they say. But I don't think they are. Not all of them, at least. The Sith are more my family than my father ever was. And there are people among them… people like you." He met my eyes, and the hatred within his had been replaced by something else I couldn't identify. Admiration, maybe. He had his father's eyes. Chocolate brown, filled with endless, impenetrable depth.

I smiled, somewhat sadly. "Unfortunately, well, maybe not everyone is like me." I paused. "For instance, there are douchebags like Mekel and Shardaan. And bitches like Lashowe. And then the scheming ones, like Uthar and Yuthura."

"Scheming how?"

"I'm pretty sure you'll find out at least one of Uthar's schemes soon enough. And Yuthura's plotting his untimely demise."

"How do you know all this?"

I shrugged. "I have my sources," I said vaguely.

"One second," Dustil muttered, turning on his comlink. I could hear sound within it, but not distinguish words. I waited for news.

Dustil paled and switched it off. He turned to face me. "They've been caught. Father and his Jedi girlfriend. They were spotted breaking into Master Uthar's quarters. It hasn't yet been determined if they took anything."

"They were caught?" My voice squeaked as I uttered the question and Dustil gave me a strange look. He nodded gravely.

"Yeah. The Jedi's being interrogated by… Kel Algwinn. And from what I know of him, it's not going to end well. He's a creeper if I ever met one. Way too desperate to prove himself. He'll resort to anything. And..." Dustil paused. "Uthar's calling in all the students... he's using the Jedi to set a trap for any more of her friends who might be among us." He paused again. "This is my fault."

"How do you figure that?"

"I told my father to find proof the Sith were evil. That's the only reason I can think they'd be in Uthar's quarters, trying to get dirt on him. Risking their mission, whatever it is, for me. Sure, I hate my father, but I can respect that in his Jedi friend at least. She's not all Jedi, I can tell you that much. They're all preachy and emotionless and no action. She's not."

I nodded. "What'll Kel do to her?"

"Anything and everything to get the information. Somehow I doubt she'll break under… conventional torture."

I nodded again, starting to feel afraid. "Where's your father being held?"

"He's in the dueling chamber, which has been emptied of students given the circumstances." He gave me a strange look.

"I have to go," I said, and dashed off without another word.

I didn't care if I blew my cover with Dustil. I had to save Carth and Caeli. From the sound of it, it had been just the two of them, but the Sith would be able to get enough information from the people in Dreshdae to implicate the entire crew, myself included.

So I ran. I ran back up the path, stumbling over rocks more than once, ignoring Dustil who was calling my name. Unfortunately, he was a Dark Jedi. He caught up to me before I'd even reached the Valley of the Dark Lords, and before I could even object, I was on his back, speeding across the valley.

I had to admit, it was a sound plan. He dropped me off at the entrance to the Academy in five minutes, where it would have taken me fifteen, with my level of endurance as low as it was.

"Sorry about that, milady," he murmured, reverting back to his usual charming, chivalrous self. There was a pause. "I'll come with you."

"Is that a good-"

"I want to know if my father found anything. Plus, I have more authority than you. I'm a student, you're just an archaeologist. No offense."

"None taken. Any help here would be appreciated."

Without another word, we entered the Academy and tried to look normal while walking as quickly as we possibly could. We entered the main hall, noted Uthar's absence, crossed it, and walked up a corridor to the split between the interrogation room and the dueling chamber. I heard a scream from Caeli and flinched as we walked up to the guards of the latter room.

"I've been given authorization to see what I can get out of this prisoner," Dustil told the guard in a most authoritative voice. "I promise I can be most effective."

"I've been given orders to—"

Dustil focused. "Let me in. Go back to your room. Forget you ever saw us."

The guard nodded, in a daze, unlocked the door, and fled the area. I turned to my companion. "Good mind trick there."

Dustil smirked. "Thank you, milady."

I raised an eyebrow at him before I remembered why we were there. I opened the door.

We stepped inside, surveying the room, and Dustil closed the door behind us. My roaming eyes found Carth in the left corner of the room closest to the door. Our eyes met, but there was no flash of recognition. Instead he turned his attention to his son.

"Dustil," he said. "I've found your proof." His eyes flickered to me again.

"She can be trusted," Dustil answered the unasked question. "Coming here was her idea."

"Here, take this datapad. You knew someone named Selene?"

Dustil flinched at the name. "She convinced me to join the Academy. They told me she died on a mission! This says they…"

"…killed her because she was hindering your progress! There's your evil, Dustil! Or can you live with that?"

"No, I… I can't. I… we've got to get you out of there."

"And rescue Caeli," I added, as another scream rent the air. Carth visibly flinched.

Dustil moved to the console, releasing the cages. I stepped up to his father. "Carth." He jerked out of his reverie.

"Do I know you?"

"Remind me to commend Mission on her disguising abilities. Yes, you know me, but we don't have time now. Let's go." Caeli screamed again, and Carth paled, nodding.

I thought the door was going to be a problem, until Dustil stabbed it. After a few seconds' exposure to the lightsaber, the door gave way and ground open.

Caeli's eyes were exhausted. She had been stripped of her Jedi robes, and her skin seemed to be covered in lashes. She was on her hands and knees, not verbally begging for mercy, not making a sound, but her eyes were doing all the pleading. Her hair was shorter and tangled, matted with dirt and blood. As we entered, the man standing over her let the whip fall again and she whimpered, not even having the strength to scream. She collapsed to the floor, if not unconscious, then nearly so.

Kel Algwinn had turned to the door, smirking at the new arrivals. Apparently he had dispensed with the ordinary tactics of interrogation and gone for antiquated brutality. This sort of reversion to primitive means would be almost like burning someone at the stake in the 21st century. It just wasn't done. Except by people like Kel Algwinn, apparently.

He raised the whip for another strike, and I saw Caeli tense, bracing herself. The strike never landed, however. Even weaponless, Carth was desperate. He kicked Algwinn right where it hurts, causing him to drop the whip, which Carth then picked up. I had never seen a stranger sight than Carth wielding a whip. It was like it was an Indiana Jones crossover or something. Within five seconds, Algwinn had a red welt around his neck where the whip had struck, and he was cowering in a corner. As if by unspoken agreement, Dustil took over watching him as Carth ran to Caeli. When Algwinn tried to move, Dustil pulled out his lightsaber again and placed it at his throat.

"Don't even think about it," he growled.

Carth, meanwhile, was kneeling beside Caeli, hardly able to avoid staining his pants with blood. Some of her wounds had scabbed over, but several were still bleeding and she looked awful. The fact that she was in her underwear only enhanced the effect. Carth bent over her and pulled her into his arms, cradling her gently, stroking her matted, bloody hair. Her eyelids fluttered open.

"Ca-Carth?" she asked in a shaking voice. "Carth…"

"I'm here, beautiful," he replied in a voice that was not devoid of tremor itself. "I'm here. You're safe."

"From him, maybe," she muttered.

"I won't let them hurt you," he whispered. "I promise. I'll protect you if it's the last thing I do."

She made no attempt to reply, but a single tear ran from her left eye across her face.

As I managed to tear my gaze away from them, it lighted on a footlocker in the corner, which I proceeded to loot. It contained Caeli's backpack, along with her Jedi robe, lightsabers, and Carth's blasters. I took out the backpack and opened the outside pocket, pulling out a medpac.

"Carth." He looked up, I tossed it to him. His eyebrows knit in confusion before he decided he had more pressing matters to attend to than a crazy Sith girl. He began to tend to Caeli's wounds.

I, meanwhile, took the rest of the stuff out of the footlocker and went to see how Dustil was doing. He still had Kel at lightsaber point, which pleased me greatly. "Hello, River," he said calmly as I approached. "Did the rescue go as planned?"

I shrugged. "As far as I can tell. There's still the matter of getting what Caeli came for and getting out."

"I don't suppose there's any way we could convince Father to take us with him?"

"Eh. Maybe." I shrugged again. "Keep an eye on him."

I went back to Carth, laying the backpack next to him, along with his blasters and Caeli's lightsabers. I held onto her robe, waiting for the moment when she'd need it.

Carth bandaged the worst of her wounds, but she was still incredibly weak. I reached into the backpack again, pulling out her water bottle and handing it to Carth. "Give her some water," I instructed. As he did so, I felt an inexplicable wave of power surge through me. Without even intending to do so, I raised my hand over Caeli and expended the power through it. Somehow, a wave of energy emanated from my hand, washed over Caeli, and dissipated. She sat up, shaking her head.

"I had no idea Sith used Force Heal," she commented. Indeed, she looked better, less tired.

"I didn't either. I didn't even know I was Force sensitive, I'm just an archaeologist…"

"Interesting," said Caeli. "Bastila would say it's the will of the Force, wouldn't you agree?"

Carth nodded. "She would." He paused a moment. "You said I knew you," he informed me.

"So I did." I reached into my pocket. "Does this help?"

I withdrew my pendant, my one keepsake from home, the black necklace with five silver beads, two green ones, and the silver pendant that said Adventure Unlimited. He gazed at it for a moment, then studied my face intently.

"Athena?"

"That would be me, yes. In here, though, I'm Irena River. River, to my friends."

"How did you get here?"

"The luck of meeting a Sith drunk enough to steal a uniform and an ID from, the technical skills of our wonderful astromech droid, and the cosmetic skills of our resident Twi'lek street urchin. Now, we'd better get out of here before the entire Academy comes to kill us."

"Easier said than done," Caeli grunted, holding out her hand for the robe. I handed it to her, and she pulled the pants and the tank top from within, donning them before she put the black robe back on. "Let's go, kids," she said when she was ready.

Dustil nodded, froze Algwinn in stasis, and locked him in the interrogation cage. We followed Caeli out of the room and down the corridor. Only to find a trap waiting for us.

**A/N: And there is it. Tell me what you think! Please, if you have five seconds, I will even accept 1-word reviews! (Multiple words are preferable, but 1 word is better than nothing). Next chapter will be up within the next couple of days. Probably not tomorrow, because I've been spending so much time on my project I have all my other homework to do. Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing/favoriting/following, you all make me sooooo happy! I'll be back soon, until then, have a great life! **

**-Athena**


	14. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I told you last time I'm not saying it again! _I. Don't. Own. This... _Damn it, you made me say it! *curses* **

**A/N: Last post before my project! Wish me luck, cuz if I die, you'll never get to read the end of this fanfic cuz no one knows the password to my computer! So, hopefully I don't die. Seriously, though, I'm rubbish at presenting things. It's terrible. But you probably don't want to hear about my woes. **

**Thanks to those people who reviewed! (Eep, I hope you decide not to make the chocolate milk disappear! That's a staple of my diet right there! :P) You guys are awesome! Happy reading! **

Chapter Thirteen

"I thought you'd come out this way," said Master Uthar. "Tell me, what were you doing in my quarters?"

"If I didn't tell your amateur torturer, what makes me think I'll tell you?" Caeli asked casually.

Students stepped from all sides, several to each companion. Caeli was left alone, but Carth, Dustil, and I were all grabbed. They weren't exactly gentle.

"Because I can kill your friends without a second thought. What were you doing there?"

"All I took is a little datapad that said you killed Dusty's girlfriend," Caeli snapped, indicating Dustil. "Then your little minion came in and called for backup, dragged me to the interrogation room, stripped me, and beat me to a pulp. Any other stupid questions?"

Uthar remained silent.

"Good. Now, I don't see how we'd make it out of the Academy alive because you've got my friends and I'm surrounded by your mindless little minions. But I have a proposition. We fight to the death. You win, I die. Obviously. I win, Yuthura has to let me and my friends go. After she takes me to the Tomb of Naga Sadow. Swear to it." She turned to Yuthura. "You too. Don't think you'll get away with the old 'I didn't swear the oath, he did' trick."

"I swear to uphold your terms," said Uthar.

"Good. Yuthura?"

"I swear to uphold your terms," the woman repeated.

"Good. Let's get to it." Caeli flourished her lightsabers. My eyes found Carth's in the crowd; they were glistening with barely concealed panic. After all she'd just been through, Caeli was being subjected to another fight, a fight with the Sith Master, of all people. I dimly registered a Sith girl on the side of the circle closest to the exit to the valley vanish down the corridor, but I had no idea of its significance.

The fight was not short and definitely not sweet. Despite my Force Heal, Caeli was still severely weakened from her torture, and Uthar was in his element.

After a good five minutes of nerve-wracking dueling, Caeli was to be found lying on the floor, backing away from the tip of Uthar's lightsaber. Fortunately for her, he was drawing this out, for a lightsaber, a purple one, flew from the back of the crowd and grazed his back, causing him to withdraw his own weapon. The lightsaber flew back towards its owner, cutting down several Sith along the way. Finally it was reunited with the hand of its owner: the blond girl I had seen earlier. And she'd brought backup. A dark-skinned female human, two green male Twi'leks, an orange female Twi'lek, and a male human I recognized as Mekel. Though I didn't know the blond girl, I knew who her friends were: the refugees from the Shyrack caves.

Meanwhile, Uthar's momentary distraction was enough to give Caeli a chance. She jumped to her feet, called her fallen lightsaber back to her, and, as the fighting broke out, ran the Sith Master through. Her fight, at least, had been won.

Thalia May and her friends, meanwhile, were having a bit of a tough time. I had to help them. I managed to kick the guy holding me, elbowed him away from me, and took his lightsaber from him. Thanks to the training Belaya had given me, even though I hadn't used a lightsaber since, I was able to be of some use as Caeli grabbed Yuthura and fled to the Valley. I was grateful for this. There was too much at stake for her to risk her life in this fight.

Dustil and Carth had also managed to break free of their captors. Carth was fighting all-out, firing with his blasters or using them as clubs, while Dustil was running through the crowd, finding his friends, and warning them about the evil of the Sith. Several even joined our cause, though he was forced to fight more than one. Galon Lor was among the first to fall to Dustil's lightsaber, and despite the help he'd given me, I was unable to find it in my heart to feel bad about it. He was a Sith, and an idiot at that. He got what he deserved.

Somewhere in the course of the battle, I found myself back to back with the blond girl.

"Another deserter?" she asked.

"Nah," I said. "A spy. I was with Caeli when we arrived."

I could almost sense her nodding. "Good to know. I'm Isyra, by the way. Isyra Vega."

"A pleasure, I'm sure," I said. "Under different circumstances, I'm sure we could have been friends. I'm Athena Sapphire. Here, I was Irena, River to my friends."

We fell silent again, fighting for our lives, parrying blaster bolts and lightsabers alike. Shortly thereafter, we became separated again.

I shall attempt to describe the conditions of that battle, though I shall avoid most of the gruesome details. The floor was littered with dead Sith, along with a few of the deserters. For instance, the orange Twi'lek was felled by the lightsaber of a murderous-looking student. Mekel was also killed shortly thereafter. That was truly a shame, I thought. He'd seen the light, he would have made a pretty good Jedi if he decided to join up. Then this had to happen.

Every other step I took involved stumbling over a dead body somehow, and as the battle progressed, the ratio of dead to living was getting higher and higher. More than once, I slipped in a pool of blood, though the use of lightsabers was quite helpful in this matter, given that they instantly cauterize wounds. Only the guards and Carth were using blasters, hence the blood.

Though the Sith were accustomed to outnumbering their opponents, they were clearly not used to being cut down like blades of grass faced with a lawnmower. Once we'd killed slightly over half of them, the rest of them turned tail and ran, some towards Dreshdae, others towards the Valley of the Dark Lords. I pitied the latter group. They were bound to run into Caeli on their way out, and I doubted many of them would survive the encounter.

As for me, I didn't envy whoever had to clean up the Academy. The floor of the central area was littered with corpses, mostly of the Sith loyalists. A few of Dustil's friends who'd turned were also dead, along with Mekel and the orange Twi'lek. Isyra Vega was kneeling over the prone body of Thalia May, and one of the male Twi'leks was with her. Carth and Dustil meanwhile, were having a hushed argument in a corner. I decided to join them.

"I can't exactly stay here," Dustil was saying. "Come on, I can help you!"

"No! It's too dangerous."

Dustil turned to me, a pleading look in his eyes. "River," he appealed to me.

"What's going on?"

"Father wants to leave me behind."

I turned to Carth. "You can't."

"Why not?"

"It's dangerous! He was the only Sith who was actually helping when we freed Caeli. Dangerous as our mission is, he'd be safer with us. And think about it, if he came, you'd know what was happening to him, you could keep an eye on him! Come on, Carth!"

Dustil, meanwhile, was looking confused. "You know each other?"

I nodded. "Caeli found me on Taris. I was a slave, but she rescued me, and since the planet was blowing up around us, she took me along. I stayed with the Jedi for a bit, then I went with Caeli."

"How did you end up here?"

"Caeli needed to come here for her mission. I decided it might be helpful if I snuck in as a spy. So I stole the identity of Irena River, snuck in here, and made a whole bunch of friends. Turns out it was a good plan, huh?" I waited two seconds, then continued. "Anyways, Carth. Please?"

He glared moodily at the floor for a full minute before he finally turned his relentless gaze to me. "If he gets so much as scratched, you'll pay the price."

I met his stare with full seriousness, understanding that he meant every word. "Understood, sir. I'll take responsibility."

"In that case, Dustil, you can come."

"Be warned, though," I added, "not everyone will trust you right off the bat. Some will be suspicious because you're a Sith. You'll need to prove yourself if you really want to belong. And Dustil?"

"Yeah?"

"Do be careful." He raised an eyebrow. "Because your father will maim, if not kill me should you be injured or killed."

Dustil nodded.

"I'll take him back to the ship," I told Carth. "I take it you want to wait for Caeli?"

He nodded without speaking.

"All right, Dusty, come on."

"Don't call me that," he growled.

"Once you get to know me better, dear, you'll learn that I have an interesting sense of humor." I winked. "And I dearly love to tease."

He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Great."

**A/N: And there you have it? Like it? Review if you've got a second. Or a minute. Or five. Or several hours. Whichever. Wish me luck on my presentation this afternoon! Tell me what you had for lunch, give me a cyber-hug, whatever you want! But reviews make me happy (and if you threaten to remove all chocolate milk from the world, that motivates me. Seriously.) Anyway, have a great life until I see you next! **


	15. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: Own this I do not. **

**A/N: So in celebration of surviving my project, I'm giving you an extra chapter today, yayyyy! I really have nothing more to say here, so happy reading!**

Chapter Fourteen

"Out of the way!"

Dustil and I looked up from where we'd been conversing in front of the _Ebon Hawk's_ loading ramp, where we had stayed to wait for Carth and Caeli after releasing Irena from the cargo hold. Poor girl was terrified of me, but we got her to run into Dreshdae all right. Anyway, Carth was running towards us, carrying Caeli in his arms. She was gravely wounded, that much I could tell. And though at least a few of her wounds were from a lightsaber, the rest were bleeding profusely.

Dustil and I stepped aside immediately so that he could take her into the ship. We heard him calling for Jolee as his footsteps faded into the interior of the ship. Dustil shot me an inscrutable glance.

"What?" I asked, somewhat irritably.

"Who is she? Really?"

"She's…" I paused. I knew I couldn't tell him the truth, because not even the crew knew it yet. "She's a Jedi. A very powerful, important Jedi." I paused again, wondering how much to tell him. "She and Bastila have a Force bond, they're connected."

"You mean Bastila Shan?" I nodded. "I've heard of her. Even Malak's afraid of her power, or so the rumors say."

"The rumors would be right. Her power can influence entire armies. But alone against Malak, she wouldn't stand a chance. That's why Caeli's here. Caeli has great potential. And together, they can defeat Malak. That's their mission."

"Right. So what were they doing here? She said something about a map to Yuthura…"

"Right. See, they discovered the first map on Dantooine, after Caeli was trained. They also found a mention of something called the Star Forge. The Council hypothesized that the Star Forge is the way Malak's getting so many ships so quickly, but the map was incomplete. It showed four planets: Tatooine, Kashyyyk, Manaan, and Korriban. Bastila guessed that these worlds might have more maps that, when put together, would lead us to the Star Forge."

"That's a lot of guessing."

"I know, but they've been right so far. They went to Kashyyyk first, that's where they met Jolee. He's kind of a crazy hermit, but he's wise in his own way, I guess. Then they came back, picked me up from Dantooine, and moved straight on to Tatooine. That's where we got HK-47, the crazy homicidal assassin droid. Then we came here, and you know pretty much what happened."

He looked slightly apprehensive. "Seems like you have a lot of crazy people in your party."

"Depends on your definition of crazy. Carth's kind of paranoid-crazy, no offense, Bastila's kind of Jedi-crazy, Jolee's hermit-crazy, Juhani's bipolar-crazy, Canderous is Mandalorian (that should tell you all you need to know), HK is homicidal-crazy, Mission's kid-crazy, Zaalbar's Wookiee-crazy, T3's computer-crazy (if you can call him crazy. He's more like… just there), and I'm just… well, I'm me-crazy. You'll learn what that is soon enough, everyone else is kind of used to it."

He looked even more apprehensive at that. Then he looked up. _Light bulb,_ I thought. "You haven't mentioned Caeli," he observed.

"That's because she's the only one in the crew who's _not_ crazy. Well, she's crazy sometimes. But it's always with good reason and usually with good results."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, she comes up with some sort of mental scheme, and then it actually works. No one ever thinks it will, but it always does. If she's crazy in any way, it's crazy-brilliant. That's why she's the leader. Even though this is technically Bastila's mission. Cael's just… a natural leader."

"I can see that. The instant we broke her out of that cell, she took charge. She was the one who fought Uthar. She ordered Yuthura around, _and Yuthura listened._ She never listens to anybody, let alone an enemy. But she listened."

"True, kid. True."

"Watch who you call a kid. You're what, eighteen?"

"Seventeen, actually. So?"

"I'm nineteen."

"I repeat: so?"

"So don't call me 'kid.'"

"Okay, so… can I call you Dusty?"

"No."

"Okay, Dusty." He glared at me. "Oh, I was only asking as a formality. I'm still going to call you Dusty, whether you like it or not."

"River-"

"Here, it's Athena."

"Well, if you call me Dusty, I'm calling you River. Deal with it."

I inclined my head, laughing. "Fair enough." Pause. "I'm going to go check on Caeli." I walked into the ship with Dustil following in my wake.

Caeli's wounds, it turned out, were nothing Jolee couldn't fix fairly easily. He had to enlist a little help from Juhani, mind you, but it wasn't as serious as it had appeared. Needless to say, Carth was relieved. When I arrived, he was sitting on the end of her bed, and she was sitting up, an earnest expression on her face.

"It's no big deal, Carth, I'm fine," she insisted.

"What happened to you?" he demanded.

"It was nothing, really…" she turned away.

"Don't give me that, Caeli." He glared at her mock-threateningly. "Tell me what happened. Who did this to you?"

"Not who, what. There were… some wraid, in the tombs."

"Wraid wouldn't be able to hurt you like this," he pointed out.

Caeli sighed. "I can't keep anything from you, can I?"

"Don't try to avoid the question. What was it? Really?"

"Nothing too dangerous, I mean…"

"Caeli."

She sighed again. "Terentatek."

His eyes widened. "Like on Kashyyyk? But you beat that one without being hurt too badly…"

She sighed again, closing her eyes. "Two of them."

"Two? Then how did you…"

"Survive? I'm not completely incompetent, Carth. Come on, give me a break here. I mean, I know you don't trust me, but-"

"That's not true." The words were quiet, almost inaudible, but I heard them, and so did Caeli.

"What?"

"I do trust you. I—in fact, I'm concerned about you. I—I mean, I know you can handle yourself," he added quickly as she opened her mouth to speak, "but I'm just—I'm worried about what might happen to you. You have a lot of courage, and the fact that you've remained strong is—is amazing, but there's even greater danger ahead." I remembered this conversation. It had been one of my favorites.

"What are you—"

"I think you might be setting yourself up for a fall. Maybe at the urging of the Jedi, I don't know. But you're definitely going to become a target."

"I know that. I've known from the beginning. Ever since we started this, Malak's been trying to kill me, and we've always managed to stop him. But what—"

"Caeli." She fell silent. "If—if I'm going to find some purpose beyond taking revenge on Saul, then it's going to have to be in protecting… you."

Caeli took a deep, shaking breath.

"I don't know why, I just feel that… that some terrible fate is waiting for you. I think the Jedi Council knows it, too. And I—I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you."

"So… you think the Jedi have thrown me to the wolves?"

He was shaking his head. "Don't chalk it up to my paranoia just yet. Something's not right. I blamed it on you, before, but… I think the Jedi didn't tell us everything."

"Carth—"

"Look, if I'm going to live past Saul, I need you to, as well. Let me protect you… from yourself, from the Sith… you have to let me try!" He took her right hand in both of his and looked down at it, not meeting her eyes.

I glanced over my shoulder, wondering what Dustil was thinking, but he was gone. How much had he heard?

"Why are you doing this?" Her tone wasn't angry, just curious, but Carth still looked wounded.

"Because… because I never got the chance to save my wife and son. Because I didn't stop Saul when I had the chance. Because I finally have the chance to do it _right._ You are… an extraordinary woman. You make me think that… maybe… there might be some purpose _beyond_ revenge. I… I don't know if it means anything to you, but it… it does to me." Carth looked up at her.

Caeli's eyes were filled with tears. She nodded slowly, fighting not to cry, as she said, "It means a lot to me. So much… you have no idea… Thank you."

He smiled a bit at that. "I'm glad to hear that," he said softly. "I'll do my best."

"That's all I can ask of you," Caeli replied, reaching out her free hand to touch his face. I was suddenly very glad Dustil wasn't watching. I decided I should give them some privacy, too, having accomplished my mission of making sure Caeli was all right. As I left, I heard Carth say, "So tell me… where did the lightsaber wounds come from?" Caeli laughed.

Shortly after that, Carth was to be found in the cockpit again, preparing to take off again. I stood behind him, watching as he made preparations. "Where are we headed?" I asked.

"Manaan," Carth replied without looking up. "The last Star Map."

_The last map._ My blood froze. I had almost forgotten… no, I _had_ forgotten what came next. _The Leviathan. Saul Karath. Malak. Revan._ All this ran through my head at the speed of light, and I shook my head a bit to clear it. _Keep calm, Sapphire. Keep calm._ "The last map… It'll be a relief to save the galaxy and get home, don't you think?"

He nodded slowly. "Home."

I gasped. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking…"

"Don't worry about it, Athena. I—well, maybe I will have something to go back to when this war's over. Or… something to take back with me."

"Or someone?" I asked, smirking slightly.

"How did you know?"

I shrugged. "Lucky guess."

Carth laughed shortly. "You think I'm just going to accept that you're smart enough to guess that?"

I uttered a genuine laugh. "It's not hard, Carth," I informed him as we pulled out of Dreshdae. "In fact, it's kind of obvious."

"Obvious? How?"

The blackness of space, studded with stars, opened around us. _Ever closer._ "Oh, maybe the fact that you freak out and start pacing and snapping at everyone every time something's happened to her? The fact you're always the one to take her to Jolee when she's hurt?" Carth jumped to hyperspace. "Or maybe that she's the only one in the entire crew you've opened up to about your past? The only one you truly trust?"

He turned to glare at me. "Athena—"

Bastila walked in.

I made an extremely frustrated sound and whirled on her. "Princess, you have the worst timing—"

"And you need to learn respect."

"Do I? Who should I be respecting?"

"Your elders. Your superiors."

"I do respect my superiors! I respect Carth, Caeli, Canderous, Jolee…" She opened her mouth. "Oh I know you were talking about you," I said with a smirk, "I just don't think you're superior to me, so…"

Her stare changed into an icy glare.

"Do we have a problem?" I asked innocently.

"I am a Jedi, Sapphire. You have no right to speak to me like that."

"Just the fact that you're a Jedi doesn't dictate how people treat you. Oh, ordinary people who don't know you, maybe. But those of us who are your… acquaintances… don't have to treat you with honor and respect just because you wear Jedi robes or… or carry a lightsaber. Because you know what? You're nothing but a prissy little… well, I hate to say it, but you can be a real bitch sometimes, Bastila." I turned and stalked out of the room without looking at her or giving her a chance to reply.

**A/N: Hahaaaa that was fun. I seriously loved getting the chance to yell at Bastila. :D So yeah, there you have it. Leviathan's up next (honestly my favorite part of the whole game). Hope you enjoyed your special 2-chapters-in-1-day treat! Review if you have a second! I don't know why I'm using so many exclamation points! Have a great life! Bye!**


	16. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: IDNOT. Figure it out. It's not that hard. **

**A/N: I'm back. Again. Not that I was actually gone. Now that my project's over, I'm trying to write my college essays and it's really not working. So (big surprise) here I am. As I said before, this is my favorite part of the game, and (in my humble opinion :P) this is where this story starts getting interesting. Happy reading!**

Chapter Fifteen

I was sitting in the engine room when the _Leviathan_ intercepted us. The ship lurched uncontrollably, I was thrown into the wall, and sparks started flying everywhere. I figured I'd better get out, but that was easier said than done. I ran out, getting thrown against the wall several more times in the process, but I made it out okay. It was when I entered the main hold that the real trouble began, and it wasn't because Bastila was glaring daggers at me.

Carth told the crew the short version of his history with Saul Karath. "If I get the chance to kill him during our escape, nobody better get in my way," he concluded, glaring around at everyone as though daring them to oppose him.

"Talk of an escape is somewhat premature, don't you think?" Bastila pointed out. "We don't even have a plan to get out of this mess yet."

Everyone automatically looked at Caeli.

"What, really? It's always me who has to come up with the plans, isn't it?" she demanded.

"Cael, dear, you are the only one who ever comes up with _good _plans that _work_," I pointed out. "In this situation, I'd say that's pretty important, wouldn't you agree?"

She sighed heavily. "Fine. Well, Karath's going to be watching us—" she indicated herself, Carth, and Bastila, "—like a hawk. One of the others is going to have to break us out."

"I'll do it," said Mission and Dustil in perfect unison.

"I can get the guards to put me in a separate cell, then break out and get you guys out," Mission proposed.

"Better if they don't even know I exist," Dustil argued. "I can use stealth to sneak around them and get everyone out."

"You just joined our party," Mission shot back. "How do we know we can trust you? How do we know it's not your fault we're here? What if you turn us into the Sith? What if you led them to us?"

"That's my son you're talking about!" Carth cut in. A full-scale argument broke out, everyone fighting to make themselves heard. I saw Jolee sigh and shake his head.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" I shouted. The talk died down. "This isn't helping. We have _seconds_ before we get dragged onto that ship and we need a plan or we're all _fucked._ Got it?"

Everyone nodded. A few even looked a bit sheepish. I turned to our leader. "Caeli?"

"Mission," said the Jedi, "I happen to trust Dustil. However," she added as Mission prepared to argue, "I think it would be a good idea to have a backup plan. Both of you go."

It seemed like both of them were about to argue before they realized it was actually a good plan. It wasn't foolproof, not by a long shot, but it was definitely better than nothing.

"Get ready," said Carth. "They're dragging us into the docking bridge."

As the group dispersed, I decided to take a risk. I pulled Mission aside.

"When you get there," I told her, "talk to the Rodian who's alone in his cell. He'll help you. Oh, and if you go straight down the hall from the cells, there should be armor and weapons in a locker or something there. Then, turn around and take the hallway to the left. Kill the guard and open the door. There should be a couple technicians and a terminal. From the terminal, you can open the cell doors, then when the Sith come out to fight the insane Rodians, you can engage the emergency riot system and gas them all. From the terminal, you can also open the detention area. You'll be able to find your way from there, it's fairly straightforward. Good luck." I clapped her on the shoulder and turned to go.

"Wait!" she called. "How do you—"

"—know all this?" I finished. She nodded. "I have my ways. And you'll find out soon enough. Probably." I left her staring at me open-mouthed and passed Dustil, who was strapping on his stealth belt.

"Good luck," I told him. "Oh, and do me a favor. If Mission's still frozen in shock, tell her to snap out of it."

"Why—"

"Shh. Don't question. Just do it," I told him. "Good luck. And don't die."

He gave a mirthless laugh. "Thanks." He activated his stealth generator and vanished from sight.

The guards were not gentle. And those armored gauntlets _hurt._ Especially since my sunburn from Tatooine was still healing. No one bothered to resist the guards except Mission, and Dustil was nowhere to be seen. Mission put up a good fight, kicking and screaming and shouting obscenities at her guards. She was almost immediately dragged off separately. Though I was pretty sure her plan would work, I couldn't help praying for her safety.

However, I was distracted almost immediately. They dragged us off to the brig level, which was exactly as I remembered it, separating Caeli, Carth, and Bastila from the rest of us. We were shoved unceremoniously into a little room off to the side while the three important ones were escorted (euphemism if I ever used one) into the force cages.

We sat for several minutes in silence, hoping our rescue would come soon. Then there were footsteps, and the sound of a door opening. Someone said Carth's name. My jaw clenched involuntarily with hatred. Saul.

I couldn't hear the words clearly, but I knew them well enough from playing the game. The voices, however, were much more emotional than I'd ever heard in the game. Carth's was shaking with suppressed rage, Bastila's was calm and collected as usual, but perhaps a bit more defiant than was normal, Caeli's was cold, and if I hadn't known her well, I might have mistaken it for detached. As it was, though, I picked up on the subtle undertones which indicated her fury. And Saul's voice held far too much gleeful malice for my taste. After listening to them speak for a few moments, the force cages' torture fields engaged, and I noticed that my hands were clenched into fists. I bit my lower lip as the screams of my best friends penetrated the door of our cell. I hated feeling so useless.

Saul spoke again, this time for a while, interrupted occasionally by one of the others. However, when he neared the end of his speech, his tone was one of anticipation and eagerness. I realized he was giving Caeli her ultimatum: answer the questions or Carth will suffer. Sure enough, when she spoke, her voice trembled almost imperceptibly, the only sign of her fear. I hoped Saul hadn't noticed, but he was paying too much attention to her reaction to have missed it.

Carth responded, defiant. He was trying to be strong for Caeli, but Saul cut him off with his first question. Caeli couldn't control herself; when she answered, her voice cracked and became much higher than normal. Carth's yells of pain split the air, and as Caeli cried out in response, everyone around me could hear her words clearly: "No! Stop, please! Please…" Her last word ended in a broken sob.

I stood, frozen with shock. Caeli, usually so strong, so collected, was actually begging for mercy. I had never seen (or heard) her lose control like this before, and to be honest, it terrified me. If she couldn't resist… there was no telling what could happen.

I shouldn't have feared, though. She knew that Carth didn't want her to answer the questions, not even to save him, and that would give her strength even if she seemed broken on the surface. She would hold onto that, and it would be her rock amidst the raging currents of emotion.

Finally, the interrogation ended with all three screams. They faded, one by one, until finally there was silence but for the crackle of electricity in the force cages. Saul's footsteps had already departed, and once the electricity faded away, the lack of sound was simply eerie. It might have been my imagination, but I thought I heard someone crying softly, even in unconsciousness.

We sat in complete silence for more than half an hour. Jolee and Juhani were meditating, each in their respective corner, the droids were on standby mode, Zaalbar was standing off to one side worrying about Mission, Canderous was fiddling with something or other. I just sat against the wall, hugging my knees, staring but not seeing.

I sensed rather than heard someone returning to life in the next room. I don't know how I knew. I just did. And I knew it was Carth. Maybe I imagined it, or maybe I actually felt his worry as he gazed between Bastila and Caeli.

Again. It happened again. I felt the stirring of the next person awakening. A voice spoke. Bastila's voice. As she and Carth conversed briefly, I felt a faint stirring. Slowly, very slowly, Caeli was regaining consciousness. I dimly registered a groan, and Bastila and Carth fell silent. Caeli's voice muttered something, and Bastila responded, sounding mildly patronizing.

Caeli, surprisingly enough, cut her off, sounding stronger by the second. Her voice was a question. When Carth answered, his voice was gentler than usual. I assumed they were talking about Saul's torturing techniques.

This went on for some time, Carth and Caeli talking, with Bastila cutting in occasionally. I listened to the inflections of their voices for a while, trying to figure out at which point in the conversation they were, but I gave up. I sat leaning against the wall, resting my head in my arms, which were, in turn, resting on my knees. Well, I guess I was leaning against the door, because when it sprang open, I fell over backwards.

I stood up again, cursing, before I turned around and saw Mission. All anger vanished in an instant, and I ran to give her a hug. She returned it briefly before I let go and looked around. Mission typed something on the terminal, and the force cages in the next room deactivated. All three stepped out of their cages, but Caeli was already at a dead sprint. I caught a brief glimpse of her tear streaked face before it was buried in Carth's shoulder, her arms around his neck.

Almost instinctively, he responded, wrapping his arms around her, whispering gentle words no one else could hear. The moment grew exceedingly awkward for the rest of us, who were standing around, not talking, shooting furtive glances at the pair of them. After about a minute, Bastila cleared her throat. Caeli and Carth broke apart.

"We should really be going," said Bastila. "We're not out of danger yet."

There was a pause. "She's right," said Caeli, wiping the tears off her face with her hand. "We need a plan."

"You know what else we need?" I added. "We need to get to the bridge to open the hangar so we can get the _Ebon Hawk_ out. I'm assuming Karath's thorough enough to make sure we'd have to do that when we escaped?" I asked Carth.

He nodded. "You're right."

"Surprise and secrecy will serve us best. We should get a small group to go to the bridge while the rest deal with the _Ebon Hawk's_ guards," said Bastila.

"Well, I know the layout of the ship better than anybody, and I'll bet the Admiral will be waiting for us on the bridge. I've got a score to settle with him before we escape." Carth glared at us all. "I'm going."

"I'm coming too!" Caeli insisted.

"That's a good idea. The others can deal with the _Ebon Hawk's_ guards, but Carth and I might need your help." Bastila was trying to take charge. How amusing.

"What about the guards?" Caeli asked. "Canderous?"

"Don't you worry about that. I know how to deal with the guards. They won't know what hit them." He grinned maniacally.

Caeli turned to lead the way to the equipment storage. Before she could go, however, I grabbed her arm. "Caeli?"

"Hm?"

"Be careful, hm? Don't die on me. And, uh… don't let it go to your head."

"What do you—"

"You'll find out soon enough. I promise. Just please, be careful."

I left her looking slightly mind-blown and more than a little confused.

We retrieved our equipment and split up. Canderous led our group to the elevator, and we were bound for the hangar.

At some point during the downward journey, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I spun around, but there was no one there. I had started to panic when the air rippled and Dustil appeared, grinning.

"Holy Force, Dustil!" I cried, "you scared the crap out of me! How did you get here?"

"Followed you. It wasn't that hard."

"Thanks, Dusty. Thanks a lot."

"Hey, would you rather leave me behind to rot on this ship? I'm sure at least someone was considering it."

"Come on, Dusty, you know I wouldn't. Though at the moment…"

He gave me an _I can tell you're joking_ sort of look and shrugged. "Fine. If you really want me dead, kill me where I stand."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't be an idiot, Onasi. Plus, I'm not letting you off the hook that easy. You live, you have to put up with me. You die… well, admittedly, you'd probably have to put up with me anyway, because Carth would kill me. But I'd rather stay alive. Therefore, not going to kill you."

"Shut up, you two," hissed Canderous as the elevator doors slid open. We found ourselves face to face with a Sith patrol.

Before I could even react, Dustil had his lightsaber out and was blocking the barrage of blaster bolts that had been aimed at me. I made a mental note to thank him for that later as I drew out my sword. As my hand gripped the hilt, the blade glowed white-hot. This would be fun.

**A/N: Yaaayyyyy escape! The next chapter's probably my favorite. Just letting you know. Anyway, off to try and be productive now. Have a fantastic life! (does anyone get that vague reference? No? Okay, just checking) Bye! (screw productive, I'll probably just play SWTOR) **


	17. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: Still! I wish I owned this, I really do (but KotOR wouldn't be half as good if I owned it, I'm not that much of a genius) but I don't. So yeah. I try to deal with it. *sniff* **

**A/N: Heyyy I'm back again. Yesterday was such a lovely day I spent most of it outside. Went for a walk in the woods, stuck my feet in a stream, that kinda thing. And I did a puzzle while waiting for Merlin to load on my computer. Well, I started a puzzle. It's not finished yet. It involved a lot of swearing at puzzle pieces. Enough rambling. Happy reading! **

Chapter Sixteen

It was pretty much a straight shot to the hangar. We had to kill some guards, along with a few captains and even a couple of Dark Jedi (Dustil, Jolee, and Juhani made quick work of those). Canderous then led us up to the hangar, pausing in front of the entrance.

"There are gonna be a hell of a lot of guards in there," he informed us.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious—I mean Ordo," I said. He shot me a quick glare.

"Shut up, Sapphire. As I was saying, there are gonna be a hell of a lot of guards in there. We're all pretty good with a weapon, even Sapphire. Her only weapon is her mouth, though, and it might not do us any good. Onasi Jr., keep an eye on her. Everyone else, deal with the guards as you see fit. Let's go."

I shot a glare at the back of his head as he opened the door. Dustil smirked at me. I turned my relentless gaze to Carth's son.

"He's right, though, River," he muttered. "Your best weapon _is_ your mouth. Maybe your facial expressions. How about you just scare the enemy away? Or annoy them to death, how about that?"

"Dustil."

"Shut up?"

"You guessed it."

We charged into battle, Dustil wielding his lightsaber and me my sword. In what seemed like no time at all, the guards were dead and we were at the entrance to the _Hawk,_ waiting for Canderous' orders. As he started to give them, I became aware of pain seeming to spread for no apparent reason across my lower back. There was also a sort of uncomfortable wetness soaking through my shirt. Gray spots appeared in my vision.

_Oh, God, not again,_ I thought. This had happened before. On stage, my freshman year of high school. Fortunately it had only been a rehearsal, but it freaked the hell out of me as well as the person I fell down next to. The grayness started to spread until I couldn't see.

_Don't notice, please, don't notice. Come on, Sapphire, fight it._ I didn't want any of the crew, especially Dustil, to see my weakness. I hated feeling inferior. And any display of weakness to anyone else—including fainting, crying, failing at something in front of someone whose opinion mattered to me, and many other things—made me feel inferior. It may seem irrational, but that was the way I felt. And these thoughts were my last before the darkness overtook me.

When I woke up, I was lying on my stomach in a bed. This was an unusual occurrence. I then registered the stinging sensation in my lower back. It was gradually lessening, but that didn't make it any less unpleasant. I groaned.

"Take it easy, there."

I groaned again, but only mentally. It was Dustil's voice. He must have witnessed my fainting episode. _Damn it._

"You okay, River?"

"I just passed out in the middle of an enemy hangar, do you think I'm okay, Dustil?"

He must have realized I was utterly serious, because when he next spoke, his lightly teasing tone was gone. "You're lucky I was there to catch you." I groaned internally again. Why did he have to catch me? I'd never live with the shame. "Why didn't you tell me you were injured?"

"Hang on a second… I was injured?"

I could almost sense his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "You didn't _know_ you were injured? What did you think happened?"

"I thought I just passed out. It's happened before," I admitted.

"You got a nasty cut across your back. Lost a lot of blood. But Jolee's healing you, and he doesn't think it was infected or anything." Dustil paused. "You had me worried for a moment, Athena."

And that's when I knew _he_ was completely serious. He'd _never_ called me by my proper name before. Never.

"Look at me," he said quietly.

I found that the stinging in my back was gone and I could sit up. I did so, finding myself face-to-face with a very concerned-looking teenage boy. He gripped my shoulders.

"Don't you _ever_ do that to me again, Athena Sapphire. You hear?"

I laughed softly. "You don't have to worry about me, Dustil. I'm fine, I promise."

That got a small smile out of him. "You know, you telling me not to worry just makes me worry more. You've got a knack for finding trouble."

"Heh, I try."

"Hey, River?"

"Yeah?"

"I have a question."

"You're reminding me of my friend Sam, dear. Spit it out."

"What did you mean?"

"By what?"

"When you told Caeli 'don't let it go to your head'?"

"Of course you were there. The thing is, I'm not sure I should tell you. Let's just say, she's about to have a dangerous revelation. You'll find out soon enough."

"I see. And if she hasn't had this revelation yet, how exactly do you know she's going to have it?"

"Now that, Dusty, is a long story. One I'm still not sure I can trust you with. It's kind of… sensitive."

"Who else knows?"

"Just the Jedi Council, Caeli, and Carth."

"You told my father?"

"I made a deal with him. He taught me how to fight in exchange for the full truth."

"And you don't trust me enough to reveal the truth to me?"

I sighed. "Dustil. It's not that I don't trust you… well, maybe it is." I sighed again. "I guess you're not going to give me a moment's peace until I tell you, right?"

"Sounds about right, yeah."

"Fine. I'll tell you the short version." I paused again. "Please don't hate me for lying I just… I don't know who to trust right now, and I don't know you that well yet, and—"

"Sapphire. Tell me."

"All right, all right. Basically. I'm not from this galaxy. I think I'm from… an alternate universe or something. And in my universe, there's a video game. Called Knights of the Old Republic. And, well… it was this story. I know… well, I don't know what _will_ happen, but I do know what _could _happen. Several different versions. And what's about to happen… well, it'll change everything."

"You—you've kept something this important from everyone?"

"Dustil, I—"

"Athena. I—you're not the kind of person I thought you were. This information—it could help us. You could tell us—"

"And risk turning the world on its head and making everything ten million times worse? No, I could never do that. I told Caeli so I could help her make decisions and she would trust me to do so, but no one else needed to know."

"We didn't need to know? If nothing else, Athena, we _are_ your friends. Don't you think we deserve the same respect and trust you gave Caeli and my father?"

"I—" I could think of nothing else to say.

"That's right." Dustil's voice was cold and angry. "I don't know you anymore, Athena Sapphire. I don't think I ever did." He turned and left the room.

**A/N: Well, _someone_ had to overreact. I don't blame him, though. (not that I blame me either, really :P). One little slip and everything goes to hell. Fun stuff, right? Next chapter will be up within the next few days. I love you all! That's not weird! Have a great day/few days! Byeee!**


	18. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: (It took me 3 tries to type that correctly. I can't spell today) To my great chagrin, my attempts to buy Star Wars have been denied. Disney beat me to it. :( **

**A/N: I know it's been a few days, but here I am. I was seriously unmotivated to edit things, and I was playing SWTOR, so I was distracted. Oh, well, I'm back now. Happy reading! All you reviewer people are lovely!**

Chapter Seventeen

I barricaded myself in the cargo hold for what felt like hours but must have been only minutes. And I cried. I cried because I hadn't realized how much Dustil's good opinion had meant to me until I'd lost it, I cried because I couldn't see any way for me to regain his respect. I cried because he was my friend. But he hadn't betrayed me, I had betrayed him. And that felt ten million times worse.

These thoughts whirled through my head as I sat there, knees hugged tightly to my chest, crying. After no time at all—or maybe it was forever; I didn't know or care—an arm was placed around my shoulders, and I registered that a voice was speaking to me.

I pulled myself out of the depths of my mind in time to hear, "Caeli's back. We're meeting in the main hold once we've entered hyperspace." Mission's voice. I nodded, and she left.

I took a few minutes to compose myself (and wash my face—I was a mess) before I headed out to the main hold. I was one of the last to join the meeting. Dustil was already there, glaring in any direction but at me. I couldn't look at him without the twisting knot of guilt tightening in my stomach. I turned instead to look at Caeli, and all thought of Dustil was wiped from my mind.

Caeli was an absolute wreck. She'd been fighting, I knew that, but she was _never_ this bad after a fight. Something had happened.

It took a few moments for me to register what I'd just thought, then I almost punched myself in the face. Of _course_ something had just happened. I'd been so absorbed in thoughts of Dustil that the Revan revelation had completely slipped my mind. That also explained why Carth was glaring at the floor in a similar manner to his son.

I turned my attention back to Caeli. Her hair was not in its usual French braid, but down (if it could be called that), matted and dirty. Her face was streaked with dirt, but certain clean streaks down her cheeks, originating at her eyes, as well as the bloodshot nature of said eyes, indicated that she'd been crying. Lastly, and most importantly, her expression said it all. She looked… well, the only word I can think of to describe it is _betrayed._ She stared at the floor without seeing, facing in the opposite direction of Carth. She was slumped against the wall, leaning on it for support. And her eyes… her eyes bore a haunted look, as though she was with us, but not really, like she was separate from the rest of us for the rest of time.

The entire crew was assembled by this time, and an awkward, tense silence had settled over all of us. The majority of the tension was between Carth and Caeli. It had not escaped anyone's notice that Carth was not beside Caeli, as he usually was, nor that he was not freaking out about her current state. Before all this had happened, he would have been at her side in an instant, demanding who had done this and seeking immediately to exact revenge. But not this time. Not this time.

Jolee broke the silence, but not the tension. "Where is Bastila? What happened on that ship?"

Carth spoke in a monotone, as though he'd rehearsed it. "We ran into Malak. He would have killed us, but Bastila sacrificed herself so we could get away."

Mission was the first to show emotion as her eyes widened. "You mean she's—she's _dead?_"

Jolee waved a hand impatiently. "Bah. Malak won't kill her, don't be foolish. He'll want to use her Battle Meditation against the Republic. Turn her to the Dark Side and the Sith will always be victorious."

Caeli's head jerked up, and there was a wildness in her eyes that matched her appearance perfectly. "We have to go back for her!" she cried, her voice half-strangled, desperate, and not at all Caeli.

"Not so fast," said Carth, finally turning his gaze to her, pausing to take in her appearance. Panic flashed through his eyes, panic which was quickly suppressed. He didn't want to admit to himself that he had feelings for her, not after what had just happened. "They deserve to know the truth about you. Do you want to tell them what Malak said, or should I?"

Caeli bowed her head, looking more defeated than I'd ever seen her. I don't know if anyone else noticed, but I saw a tear splash out of one of her eyes and silently hit the floor. "I'll tell them," she whispered, sounding more scared than anything, and still very un-Caeli-ish. Without looking up, she continued. "I'm… I'm Darth R-Revan." At the confession, she seemed to break down completely, sliding down the wall that was supporting her. Any other time, Carth would have been by her side in an instant as she buried her face in her arms, her shoulders shaking. But not this time.

Mission was there instead, putting a hand on Caeli's shoulder. "_Revan? _That's—that's… _big. _Do—do you remember anything about being the Dark Lord?" she asked tentatively. Caeli shook her head. It wasn't lost on me that she had lied, but I attributed this more to her lack of ability to speak than anything. "Then I don't think there's a problem," Mission addressed the rest of us. "It seems to me that if you don't remember anything about being Revan, then… it doesn't really matter anymore. You are who you are now, right?" Mission's face was dead serious, and I saw tears swimming in her eyes. Despite appearances, this was hard on her.

Zaalbar growled in agreement, and this time, though I couldn't understand him, I knew what he was saying. _I swore a life debt to the person you are, not to the person you were._

"Big Z and I will stick by you," Mission concluded. "We owe you our lives! We won't desert you now!"

Carth, meanwhile, stared at her in stunned disbelief. "How can you say that, Mission? The Sith attacked my homeworld… Revan took away my family and destroyed my life!"

Canderous took two steps forward, rested his palms on the center console, and leaned his weight on them, glaring at Carth. It was only in this moment that his loyalty to Caeli became clear to me. It was that loyalty alone that caused him to speak now. "Everyone knows it was Malak who gave the order to attack your people, Carth. You can't blame Revan for that." He paused. "And even if it was her…" He indicated Caeli. "Does this look like Darth Revan to you?" He stepped back into the circle with one final murderous glare in Carth's direction.

"I suppose you've proven yourself to be a friend of the Republic by your actions so far… Revan." Carth's voice hit an ominous note as it landed on her name. Caeli took a breath as if to speak, but Carth plowed on, oblivious. "But can I trust you? Can any of us?"

Caeli's mouth snapped shut, the light in her eyes died in the split second I saw them, and then they were hidden again as she buried her face in her arms. I looked over at Carth, horrified. What had he _done?_ Caeli shouldn't have to go through this!

When it became clear that Caeli wasn't going to say anything for a good long while, I decided to speak up for her. "What do you think, Jolee?" I asked, as she should have done, but she was in no fit state to do anything.

He realized what I was doing, and directed his remarks at Caeli. "What about me? I already knew who you were, Caeli, though it wasn't my place to tell you. Better off that you know, if you ask me. Does it change anything? I'm not here to judge you. You'll do what you have to do, and I'll help if I can. Revan or not, you can count on me."

Caeli nodded to show that she had heard, though her face remained hidden.

"Canderous?" I asked.

"You defeated the Mandalore clans in the war, Revan." The steely note of his speech to Carth had left Canderous' voice, to be replaced by awe and respect. "You were the only one in the galaxy who could best us. We had never met one like you before, and never since. How can you even ask if I'll follow you?" At this, Caeli let out an audible sob, but if I could have seen her eyes, I would have bet anything there was gratitude in them. Canderous strode over to Caeli, knelt in front of her, and put a hand on her shoulder. "Whatever you're fighting, it will be worthy of my skill. I'm your man until the end, Revan, no matter how this plays out."

In the seconds that followed, Caeli could be heard to whimper, "Thank you," through her sobs.

"T3?" I asked.

The little droid beeped, and I turned to Mission. She grinned. "I knew the little guy would come through for you. _Droids_ don't hold _grudges._" This last bit was directed at Carth, accompanied by a death glare of which I was exceedingly jealous. The man in question looked back at the floor, a stubborn glare still etched on his face.

Caeli lifted her face to ask the next question, even managing to slide herself up the wall. "What about you, HK?" she asked her loyal droid.

I couldn't help but grin as the droid revealed that his memory was coming back.

"Statement: It seems that the homing system deliberately restores my deleted memory core upon… upon returning to my original master," the droid concluded.

Caeli did a double-take. "Revan?" she clarified.

"Affirmation: Correct, master. Sith protocol maintains that all droid knowledge be deleted before assassination missions, and restored upon return. I have returned to you, and my full functionality is now under your personal command. It is a distinct pleasure to see you again, Master."

The tiniest of smiles crossed Caeli's face, still not reaching her eyes. "You too, HK." She looked between the two crew members present (besides Carth) who had not spoken (Juhani had disappeared mysteriously; I didn't know if she'd even attended the meeting). "Dustil? Athena? What about you?"

I looked at Dustil. His eyes met mine briefly before we both quickly looked away again. Dustil bowed his head, closed his eyes, then looked up at Caeli. "It's not your fault," he said finally. "Who you were. I may be the newest member of the crew, but I've seen enough of you to know you're no Darth Revan. Anyone who thinks so—" a brief glance at his father, "—needs to get their head on straight. I'm with you."

Another tear escaped Caeli's eyes, painting another track down her cheek. "Athena?"

"I knew everything from the beginning, Caeli," I said quietly. "I knew from the beginning, and okay, maybe I was a little wary at first, knowing who you were, but not anymore. I've seen who you are. Like Dustil said, you're as non-Revan as anyone could ever get. Don't let it get to you, Cael. I'm sticking with you to the end, if you ever need me…" Unable to help myself, I took the few steps required to get to her side and put my arms around her. She stiffened, then returned my embrace hesitantly, and I thought I knew what she was thinking: _she didn't deserve it._ But she did. And she had to understand that.

"Nothing has changed, Caeli," I whispered to her. "You're still the same person you were on Korriban, or—or Taris, when you rescued a helpless slave from a burning planet. Please, believe me. We'll be here, with you, no matter what." I could almost feel Carth's disbelieving, perhaps disapproving stare boring into my back. But I ignored it. I'd deal with him later.

I gripped Caeli's shoulders, making eye contact with her. After a long moment, she nodded, giving me a watery smile that still didn't reach her eyes. I looked over my shoulder to where Carth was standing. I knew Caeli well enough to know she wasn't going to speak to him, so I addressed the room at large, hoping for an answer from him. "Well?"

Carth sighed. "The others seem to trust you… and we need you to stop the Sith. I guess I don't have any other choice but to go along with this for now." I stepped back so he could see her. Her eyes—and his—were fixed once again on the floor. "But let me say this: I've sworn an oath to defend the Republic. As long as this mission stays on course, I'll stick with you. But I won't let you betray the Republic under any circumstances!" Caeli visibly flinched at his words, tensing visibly. After a few seconds' unbearable tension, she turned and fled the room.

Everyone's eyes landed on Carth.

"What did I do?" he demanded.

"Mission," I said, without taking my eyes off the offender, "go check on Caeli. Make sure she knows that _most of us_ still want her around."

"On it," said Mission, and she went after Caeli.

"To answer your question, Carth…" I began, in what I hoped was a dangerous voice. "Are you _blind?_"

"What?"

"Did you not _see _her? Or were you too busy worrying about your little paranoid self to spare one thought for _Revan,_ the woman who, a few hours ago, you would have _died_ for?"

"I—"

"Don't try to make excuses, soldier boy," Canderous joined the fray.

"You hurt her, Carth," said Jolee. "You kicked her while she was down; you made the wounds she already has to bear from her confrontation with Malak at least ten times worse."

I jumped back in. "Before that lovely meeting," I continued, with sarcasm dripping from my voice at the last two words, "she might have hoped you'd be there for her like you've always been. She could take anything Malak threw at her, as long as _you_ were there to support her. But you _weren't_. You _left_ her, _alone,_ to face that all by _herself. _You _betrayed_ her, Carth Onasi."

Having nothing more to say to the man, I turned and left the room too, but not before I heard Dustil say, "She's right."

**A/N: So what do you think? Please review if you've got a second. Really, they motivate me and they make me feel loved. Even a thumbs up or thumbs down will do just great. You all are wonderful, have a great day!**


	19. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: Blah blah blah blah. Blah. You know the drill. **

**A/N: So before we get started on the next chapter, I just wanted to address the question of Athena's reaction to Carth's reaction to the Revan thing. I know she kind of overreacted, but here's my reasoning: by this point, she's emotionally attached to Caeli. She knows she could fall to the Dark Side (but really, that's always a possibility for anyone, isn't it?) but she doesn't believe she will at this point. From playing the game, she didn't really get an idea of the kind of reaction Revan could have, and when she saw her breaking down over it and Carth making it worse, she just kind of lost it. From her perspective, Caeli has proved herself to be trustworthy plenty of times, and yes, the Revan revelation is a big thing, but Caeli is still the same person she was before. Dunno if that helps at all, but that's my reasoning here. And really, who's capable of thinking logically when their best friend is in tears? **

**Anyway, enough of that. Here's the next chapter. Thank you all for reviewing, by the way! Happy reading!**

Chapter Eighteen

"Athena, if you don't open the door, I'll pick the lock or get T3 to do it!" Mission's voice came from the hall outside the crew quarters.

I lifted my head from its position in my arms, decided it wasn't worth the effort, and laid it back down. Mission would get in either way, and this way, I'd have a few moments to compose myself.

For the past… however long it had been, I'd been able to think of nothing but Caeli's eyes. Sure, the rest of her appearance had been terrifying in the extreme, but the eyes… the way they were dulled, with no light shining out of them, and the way they were glittering with tears. It was as though the Caeli we all knew and loved was gone, replaced by some… some soulless creature. She had been broken too many times all at once. And Carth… I could have punched myself in the face a hundred times. I _knew_ he would react like that, I knew he would say those things, but I had _no idea_ it would affect Caeli like that. I could have sought him out, prevented him from saying them… but I was too caught up in my conversation with Dustil and its outcome to remember or to care.

The lock clicked and the door sprang open. Mission stepped in, shooting me a bit of a "look."

"Why are you hiding?" she demanded.

"I'm not _hiding,_ per se," I muttered, "I just figured you'd get in eventually, and I might as well take a few seconds to gather my thoughts. How's Caeli?"

"Same as before. She's hardly said a word to me. It's like she's not even here anymore, she's just off in her own little world, and in that world, she's drowning in despair."

"She's drowning in despair in this one, too," I pointed out. "What about Carth?"

Mission stiffened at the mention of his name. "Holed up in the cockpit. Hasn't said a word to anyone since you and Dustil said he betrayed her."

"Does he believe it, I wonder?"

"Judging by his face when you first said it… well, I'm pretty sure he was in denial, but at least some part of him had to know it was true. And you _know_ how he is on the subject of betrayal. He's accused her of betraying him hundreds of times, and now you two turned the tables on him. Now _he's _the betrayer, and he's not happy about it."

I jumped up. "I have to talk to him."

"He locked himself in the cockpit. He won't say a word to anyone, not even to tell them he doesn't want to talk about it."

"I don't care. I'm going anyway."

"At least take a shower first, Athena, you look terrible."

I sighed, but was forced to agree she was right. "Fine. Wait for me, hm? I may need your help."

Mission rolled her eyes. "I can't exactly go anywhere."

I emerged from the shower feeling refreshed, but the absence of physical discomfort merely enhanced my emotional pain. There were now three knots twisting madly in my stomach: guilt about my betrayal of Dustil, worry for Caeli, and absolute fury at Carth. When I was dressed, I went to find Mission.

She was waiting in the main hold. "If he doesn't open up, I may need you or T3 to hack your way in," I told her.

She shook her head. "We tried that. He code-locked the door. The only way anyone's getting in there is if he lets them in there."

I rolled my eyes. "Typical. Well, there's still one thing I bet you haven't tried."

"What's that?"

"Time for the cockpit door to meet the Neptune Spoon."

_Why the hell do you have to keep me in here when we're on the ship? _

"I don't have a choice, Val," I said aloud to the bird. "I don't think anyone here wants you flapping around their heads and leaving droppings all over the ship. Plus, we're in a bit of a crisis. Where's the Neptune Spoon?"

_Under the bed, where you always put it. _Valkyrie mentally rolled her eyes.

"Right." I withdrew the box, opening it to reveal my sword, sparkling as always. I took it out reverently.

_I never got why you named that sword. _

"You told me to, Val."

_But why Neptune Spoon? Yeah, I know, it reminds you of your brother._

"Exactly, dear. My brother is the definition of awesome. As is this sword."

"Athena? Are you talking to that bird again?"

_That bird has a name!_ snapped Valkyrie.

"She can't hear you, Val. And yeah, Mission, I am. Ready for this?"

We took the sword to the door. "Carth!" I shouted.

No answer.

"Carth, if you don't open this Goddamn door right now, I will cut my way in!"

Still no answer.

"Fine!" I shouted. "Here goes," I muttered to Mission.

I stabbed my sword into the door, making it white-hot again as it plunged its way into the crack. I could feel the door beginning to give way as I held it there, fighting to keep it as hot as it had started. Finally, the door sprang open.

"Thanks, Mission," I said. "Now, do you mind if I have a word with Carth? Alone?"

"Feel free," sighed Mission, returning to the main hold.

I sheathed the Neptune Spoon before collapsing into the copilot's seat and glancing over to where Carth sat. He hadn't moved or said a word since I broke in.

"Carth," I said quietly. "Carth, I know you're probably mad at me. Just, I—I want you to know, I'm… I'm not mad at you. Not really. I just—I don't want to see Caeli hurt."

"Neither do I." Carth's voice was barely audible, but he had spoken. That was something.

"Then why?" I asked. I didn't need to elaborate.

"I was angry. I knew I'd been betrayed by someone, and… she was _Revan._ How do you expect me to take that? Even now, I don't know if I can come to terms with it. I don't want to see _Caeli_ hurt, but is she really Caeli?"

"She's the same person she was on Korriban, Carth. Nothing's changed. Not really."

"That's where you're wrong. Everything's changed. And… I think she hates me. Caeli, Revan, whoever she is. But right now… I don't know how I feel about her. I just need time."

"Time we may not have! As we speak, Caeli Jayde is slipping away from us. You've been holed up in here for almost two days, Carth! Get your act together!"

Carth stood, whirling to face me, and I almost fell out of my chair in shock. He was now almost the image of how Caeli had looked in that meeting. At that moment, I realized I hadn't seen her since. I hadn't really seen anyone since, except Mission. But now, the vision of Carth in front of me was absolutely terrifying. His chocolate brown eyes were bloodshot, his face streaked with tear tracks which glinted in the dim light. He had what my friend Colby would call "sex hair," meaning "hair that is so messed up it's not even funny." It stuck out in all different directions, seeming as wild and unpredictable as its owner's present mood.

"Carth," I found myself whispering, "What _happened_ to you?"

"Get. Out," he growled.

I didn't need telling twice. I scrambled from the room, and even though the door was damaged, he still managed to close it behind me.

"That went well, I see," Mission muttered as I collapsed into a chair in the main hold.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mish," I muttered. "How's Cael?"

Her face fell. "The same," she whispered. "How long till we get to Manaan?"

"A few more days. Why?"

"Because. I get the feeling that Caeli's going to bolt the first chance she gets."

Shortly after that conversation, I asked Mission to help me call a meeting. I decided Dustil had been right: it was time to tell everyone else about my identity. As of that moment, Caeli, Carth, and Dustil were the only ones who knew. Strangely enough, those three were the only ones absent from the meeting. I was on my own.

I stepped forward, clearing my throat nervously. I could have sworn I saw Dustil lurking in the shadows outside the door but decided to ignore him. He would only make me more nervous than I already was.

"Hey, everyone. Thanks for showing up, I—I've decided… to tell you the truth. All of it." There was an outbreak of scattered muttering. I shifted nervously before holding up a hand to silence them, and they allowed me to continue.

"Now, Caeli, Carth, and Dustil already know, and Dustil's reaction… well, it… it helped me, I guess, to see that I shouldn't be keeping secrets from you all, especially not something this important. Now, it's a little hard to explain and can sometimes be hard to follow, so bear with me here, okay?"

Everyone nodded. Score one for Athena Sapphire.

"I'm not from this galaxy. I came from a galaxy far, far away, I'm not sure exactly how, just that I got attacked by electricity, the world disappeared, and I woke up in Bastila's cell with a hell of a headache.

"That's not the worst of it, though. Because that also begs the question: how did I know enough about this place to come up with a cover story convincing enough that no one suspected me except the Jedi Council?"

There was another outbreak of whispers, and Mission was looking at me as though she'd never seen me properly before. I tried to ignore this, hoping my revelation wouldn't destroy the companionship we'd been building since we set out into Dreshdae together, and I plowed forward.

"When I was attacked by electricity, I was playing a certain game," I told the crew. "This game was called Knights of the Old Republic. This game was the story of an amnesiac Revan, forced to live a lie, trying to defeat her old apprentice and save the galaxy. I was playing as Revan, and the name I chose for her was Caeli Jayde.

"I've played this game before. I know it like the back of my hand. I know shortcuts, the layouts of buildings, the answers to puzzles and riddles… _everything._ I know the potential outcomes, and there are several. All of it depends on Caeli."

There was silence except for the humming of the ship's engines. No one moved or said a word.

When the silence was reaching the point where it became disconcerting, I glanced quickly around the circle. "That's it," I told them. "Thoughts? Accusations? Helpful advice? Anything?"

"I knew there was something about you from the moment we picked you up on Dantooine. Even in the Force, you were… different." Jolee spoke up first. "Still, this doesn't change anything. You're a helpful ally, even a friend to most of us. Our job is to help Caeli, not to tell each other our life's stories. Though, I always seem to end up doing that anyway…" he grumbled. I restrained myself from laughing by focusing on the seriousness of the situation.

"Your skill in battle and your intelligence have proven your worth," Juhani added. "I shall not condemn you for your judgment."

"Your value as an ally and honor in battle is enough for me, Sapphire," said Canderous. "As long as you're with Caeli, I'm with you."

"Statement: My primary function is to serve my master," HK-47 pointed out. "Qualification: As long as she deems you a worthy companion, much as I might disagree, I shall be forced to endure your presence."

I sighed. "Remind me why I invited him?" I asked Mission.

"He's as much a part of the crew as the rest of us," she pointed out. "And I'm glad you decided to tell us. I—I mean, I understand why you didn't, before, but this means you trust us now, right?" She smiled her winning smile, and I couldn't help grinning back.

"Absolutely, Mission. With my life."

Zaalbar roared what I hoped was his approval. "He swore a lifedebt to Caeli," Mission translated, "and you've proven yourself a loyal friend to her. He can't ask more of you, but he's also glad you decided to tell us the truth."

T3-M4 beeped gently. Mission grinned. "The little guy took a shine to you the moment you came on board," she said. "He'd never even think of accusing you."

I grinned too. "Thanks, buddy." Turning to the rest of the crew, I added, "And the rest of you, too. You have no idea how much this means to me. I couldn't ask for a better group of friends to help me through this. I'm sorry it took so long for me to tell you all."

At this point, everyone muttered something or other that deflected my apology and the meeting was officially over.

I spent most of the next few days holed up in my room, trying to figure out what I could say to Carth to get him to see sense. That meeting had taken a huge weight off my mind: I'd known I'd have to tell everyone eventually and had been really worried about what their reactions would be. That said, though I considered asking Dustil for help—Carth was likely to listen to him—I hadn't spoken to him since our argument and I didn't really want to make the situation more awkward than it already was.

So I sat there, trying to come up with things to say to Carth. But it wasn't working; none of the things I came up with were even close to good enough for the situation. I barely even came out for meals, and a few times, Mission had to come in and watch as I ate dinner until she was satisfied I wasn't going to starve. After three days, I still had absolutely nothing. Correction: I had quite a lot, but none of it was good enough. I had been sitting on my bed with a datapad, writing down every little speech that came into my head, and none of it sounded right. I just… _couldn't_ get it to work.

I emerged from my room feeling defeated, having hardly eaten or slept in the past three days, sick with worry about Caeli, angry at Carth, worried for him too, to some extent, and just completely stressed out. Mission was eating when I entered the main hold.

"Athena!" she exclaimed in surprise. "Come here."

Warily, I approached her.

"Sit down," she insisted.

I did so. "Hey, Mission. What's up?"

Her delight at seeing me instantly morphed into a death glare. "I'll tell you _what's up,_ Athena Sapphire. You've hardly eaten or slept since that damn meeting, and maybe you'll understand me when I say you look like Caeli, and that's not a good thing!"

"Come on, Mish, it can't be that bad."

"Have you looked in a mirror once in the last three days?" she demanded.

"Well, no, but…"

"It _is_ that bad, Athena."

"Well, fine. I'll be back."

When I returned from taking a shower, Mission had food prepared.

"We just got out of hyperspace. Eat fast, we've only got a few minutes."

"Great, thanks for the memo."

"What's the plan?" I asked.

Nobody spoke. I lifted my eyes from the central console (which I had been staring at to avoid eye contact with Dustil) and scanned the circle.

"Where's Caeli?"

Everyone seemed to have been absorbed in their own thoughts, because they all started and looked around. Except Mission.

"She left," said the Twi'lek. "Said she had some things to deal with… and she needed to be alone for a while."

I sighed. "Fair enough. Let her be. She'll come back when she's ready."

"But—"

"No, Carth. Give her space. At the moment, I doubt she wants to see anyone, especially not you." Having nothing more to say and nothing better to do, I headed back to my room to do some more thinking.

**A/N: And there you have it. We've landed on the last planet and things are about to get... interesting. :P Just a bit of a teaser for you. Oh, and I'm listening to the Hobbit soundtrack now, YAY! I'm so excited for that movie, you have no idea. Anyway, review if you have a second. Have a great day! Bye!**

**-Athena**


	20. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: Jidabadawananeedibobo! (it's all purpose for everything, so it should do)**

**A/N: And here we are again. Our last planet before the Star Forge system, and tensions are running high. Sorry, this is a bit of a short one, but I'll probably get the next one up tomorrow, Sunday at the latest (I do have a paper due Monday and college deadlines are coming up. Contrary to popular opinion, I do kind of have a life :P). Well enjoy your brief journey into my version of KotOR! Happy reading!**

Chapter Nineteen

Caeli didn't return for hours, and when she did, she didn't say a word to anyone. She simply retreated back to the cargo hold and locked herself in. Seconds later, we heard the sounds of blaster fire and her lightsaber. I figured she must be blowing up the training droids.

When the noises finally stopped, it was at least two hours later and well into the night. I dropped off into a fitful sleep, praying she'd still be there when I woke up.

She wasn't. I should have known. She had vanished, seemingly at or before first light. It had me wondering what kind of condition she was in. If she was injured somehow, or… or if she tried to break into the Sith base on her own, she'd be in trouble. I knew she was strong, but… all the same, I couldn't help worrying.

Carth had retreated into the cockpit again after the meeting the previous day and hadn't emerged since. I decided to deal with the problem at hand.

I knocked softly on the cockpit door. "Carth?"

Silence was all that greeted me.

"Look, I understand if you don't want to talk to me, but you're going to have to talk to someone."

Silence.

"Look, Carth… Caeli's missing."

I counted down from five, and sure enough, when I reached two, the door sprang open.

"What do you mean, 'missing'?" he demanded.

"Exactly that. She left, apparently before the crack of dawn, and hasn't been seen by any of the crew since."

"Well then go out and look for her! What good is yelling at me going to do you?"

"Do I look like I'm yelling, Carth?" My voice was softer than it had been since the Leviathan.

Carth didn't answer, which I took to mean he knew I was right but didn't want to admit it.

"She'll come back," I said. "But right now, I need to talk to you. Like normal, civilized people. Can you handle that or are you going to go psycho on me again?"

He opened his mouth to argue.

"I don't want to hear it, Carth. Just listen. Please."

I waited. Finally, he nodded for me to continue.

"You need to get a grip, first of all. And I need to know something. When Cael comes back, are you going to act like the civilized human being you normally are, or are you going to fly off the handle and call her a traitor?"

He sighed, sounding annoyed. "Athena—"

"Answer the question."

"I was wrong, okay? I shouldn't have yelled at her like that, but I just don't understand how you all can take this so calmly! Our _leader,_ our _friend, _is the Dark Lord of the Sith!"

"Was."

"What?"

"_Was_ the Dark Lord of the Sith. Think about what she's done. As _Caeli,_ not as Revan. Are those the actions of a Sith Lord? No, she's different. If only people would get their heads out of their asses enough to notice it." I gave him a pointed glare.

Our conversation, however, was rudely interrupted by a certain Mandalorian stepping into the cockpit. "We just received a visit from the Selkath," he informed me. He sounded worried_. Canderous_ sounded_ worried. _

My heart stopped cold. "What's happened?"

"They tried to apprehend Caeli. Apparently she thought it was a good idea to break into the Sith base and slaughter them all single-handedly. She's certainly got guts." He sounded almost proud. Of course he was proud, I told myself. He valued that quality in Caeli, her guts. The part of her that would be willing to screw it all and kill a base full of Sith. Then something registered in my mind.

"What do you mean, they _tried_ to apprehend her?" I asked him suspiciously.

"They failed," he said simply. "She fought them off and somehow she's on the run. They thought she might have come here."

My jaw dropped. "She _escaped?_" In all my time playing the game I'd never _once_ thought to try to escape the Selkath authorities. Then again, Caeli was pretty riled up at the moment, enough to wipe out the base on her own, and apparently enough to go on the run from the Selkath.

"Yep."

"We have to find her." Carth had remained silent during the whole of the conversation, and I had forgotten he was there entirely. Now, however, I turned to look at him, then back at Canderous, then did a double-take. Carth's face was deathly pale and his eyes were radiating fear beyond anything I'd ever seen there. He knew, I realized, that this danger was far worse than any of the danger Caeli usually placed herself in. This was self-inflicted, deliberate. And this, his eyes told me, was entirely his fault.

"We will, Carth. We will. And think about it. On this planet, where's the one place she's guaranteed a hiding place?"

**A/N: Bit of a cliffhanger there for you, eh? How'd you like it? Am I doing okay with the characters? I've always been better at plot than characters, but I try. Please review if you have a minute! I'd give you cookies if I could find you! Or Ben & Jerry's Half Baked ice cream. Tasty stuff. Anyway, you're all lovely and wonderful and fantastic! Have a great day/2 days!**


	21. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah, etc., etc., etc. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this horrific idea that I don't own KotOR. Horribly depressing, really. **

**A/N: And here we are again. Sorry the chapter's a little short again, but these were good places for chapter breaks, so... yeah. Happy reading!**

Chapter Twenty

I walked calmly into the Republic embassy. I strolled up to Roland Wann's desk attempting to maintain my façade of serenity but probably failing miserably. I stared him right in the eye for five seconds before either of us said anything.

"How can I help you?" he asked, a nervous undercurrent entering his seemingly calm voice.

My eyes narrowed and my teeth clenched. I glared at him, all pretense vanishing, as I placed both my hands on his desk and leaned over. "Where's Caeli?" I demanded with an air of forced calm.

He flinched almost imperceptibly. "I—I'm sorry, I don't know—"

"Don't give me that, damn it!" I all but screamed, banging my fist on the table. "And don't tell me you don't harbor alleged criminals because I know about Sunry!"

Wann paled. "How do you—?"

"Doesn't matter. What matters is, if you don't tell me where Caeli is, I'll report you. And that could cost you your place on this planet. Now, out with it. Where is she?"

"She—"

"She went to the underwater facility, didn't she? Alone. Again. First the Sith base, now the facility, are you _trying_ to get her killed?"

He took a breath.

"Don't answer that, never mind. I already know. You aren't, she is. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that when she comes back you're to tell her to come straight back to the Ebon Hawk to see me, all right? Athena Sapphire. Make sure she can get there safely. And if you don't… you've been warned."

With that, I turned and strolled out of the Embassy, making sure to restore my façade of calm before coming into contact with the public.

When I reached the Ebon Hawk, I walked inside to find that everyone was waiting for me in the main hold. I'd stormed off without telling anyone my plan, so no one had known where I'd gone, but there they were.

"So? Where is she?" Carth demanded at once.

"Underwater, like I thought. The Republic have a Kolto harvesting facility down there. They've sent her to figure out why they lost contact with it."

Carth groaned and put his face in his hands. I could guess his thoughts: she'd only just escaped from the Sith base. One could safely assume, knowing both Caeli and the Sith, that she'd sustained at least one injury. And now, with no time for rest or healing except for her submarine trip down, she was headed into danger again. He didn't know what kind of danger, but I did. Insane Selkath. And sharks. If it was anyone but Caeli, I'd think she was screwed.

"Roland Wann is going to send her straight back here when she returns," I added. Carth didn't move. "Carth, she's going to be all right."

"You don't know that," he said angrily.

"Carth—"

"You don't understand," he snapped. "I promised to protect her, and look where it got her. Hundreds of miles under the ocean, stranded with Force-knows what. Except _you_ know, don't you? What's down there?"

I was quiet for several moments. Then—"Selkath," I said quietly.

"What aren't you telling me?"

I closed my eyes in defeat. I just couldn't keep things from him, he was way too good at noticing when I was hiding something. "They're insane. All of them. Attacking anything that moves. And there are firaxan sharks, too. Just… she'll just have to be careful, is all."

Carth snorted. "Yeah, right. But since when has Caeli ever been careful?" He turned and strode back to the cockpit without another word.

**A/N: D'awwww, Carth's worried. Again, sorry about the shortness of the chapter, but if you're nice I might give you another one later today. Assuming I have time in between doing my homework and writing an entire essay of which the draft is due tomorrow and one of my most judgmental and superior friends is going to be reading it because he sits next to me (fantastic, right? He's a great guy, but he's got issues.) Anyway, you've probably heard enough about my problems. Review if you've got a moment. I love you all! Have a great day!**

**-Athena**


	22. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: Don't own. Get over it. (Yeah, right. I'm the one who needs to get over it). **

**A/N: On a completely random side note, I've been playing SWTOR recently and my person is on Taris. I openly admit that every single time I see something KotOR-related (the Endar Spire, for instance) I start jumping up and down in my seat. I miss playing KotOR, but it doesn't work on my laptop :( Anyway, back to the story. Happy reading! (This one's a little longer than the last one :D) **

Chapter Twenty-One

Caeli hadn't returned for hours. Everyone was starting to worry, except Carth. He was already frantic.

"Calm down, Carth, jeez, she can take care of herself," said Mission.

"Don't tell me you're not worried," Carth challenged.

"Of course I'm worried," she countered calmly. "I just think that when she wants to come back, she will, and she can take care of herself until then."

"We should at least go after her!" Carth insisted. "She could be hurt, or—or—" he didn't finish. We all knew what he meant, anyway.

"Tell you what," I said. "We'll take a small group to the Republic Embassy. We'll see if she's come back yet and she's just avoiding us."

"I'm coming," said Carth immediately.

I held up a hand to calm him down. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea, Carth. She might not take kindly to your presence. In case you hadn't noticed, she's been avoiding you lately."

"I noticed," he growled through clenched teeth.

"Jolee, Mission, you come. The rest of you, sit tight and don't kill each other." This last bit was directed specifically at Carth and Canderous, who were always at odds, but even more so since the revelation of Caeli's identity. I maintained eye contact with each one until they nodded. Satisfied, I made for the door, Mission and Jolee rising to follow me.

"Query: When will you be returning, Lost Meatbag?" asked HK-47.

"Expect it to be within an hour," I responded, ignoring the nickname. "If we're not back, Juhani will organize a search party."

"Understood," said the Cathar.

I nodded to her, then turned and left the ship, Mission and Jolee trailing in my wake.

"If I remember right, we come out in Ahto West Central. The Republic Embassy is in East Central. If it looks the same, I should be able to find it."

"Encouraging," Mission noted sarcastically. I fake-slapped her in the shoulder.

"You're starting to sound like me. That's not good."

"Whatever."

"If you two young lasses don't stop bickering, I'm going on without you," Jolee snapped. "We need to find Caeli."

"Right-o," I said. "Let's go." I paused. "No rhyme intended."

I led them out of the docks, to the very long corridor that led to Ahto West Central. When we finally stepped out into the sunlight, I gasped. The water ahead of me sparkled, shimmering and mostly peaceful. It rippled in small waves all over the surface, but it was an exceedingly calm, tranquil place. Manaan was beautiful, if a bit monotonous, in the game (maybe just because I'm a sucker for CG water), but here, it was just breathtaking.

"Athena… Caeli," Mission prompted.

"Right," I said. "I just… never knew it would be this beautiful. Strange to think of what really lies beneath the surface."

"What is it?"

"Later. Right now, we need to find Caeli." I led them down the left side of West Central and to the corridor that hopefully led to East Central. We passed through the dividing area, which was a sort of small curve in the path, with a single wall jutting out of the wall to the right, around which we had to go to reach East Central. I remembered wishing I could actually walk through the area change, for once, instead of the screen going black and a loading screen popping up. Well, this time, I got my wish, but I wasn't exactly inclined to enjoy it at this point.

We entered East Central, and I remembered where we were. I turned at the first left, and headed all the way to the top of the 'area,' turning right into the Republic Embassy. Roland Wann was standing behind his desk, as usual. I didn't know why, but I didn't really like him. The cheater. Okay, so I guess I did know why.

I marched straight up to him, and said, "What happened to Caeli?"

"You mean she has not yet returned? I gave her your message to return to you when she came back."

"No, she hasn't returned. She didn't leave a message, or anything?"

"She left this datapad, to be given to Athena Sapphire," he said.

"That would be me," I said immediately.

"All right." Wann handed me the datapad. "She also said to wait until the entire crew was present before reading it." I nodded, thanked Wann, and left. We had to get back to the Hawk.

Everyone was waiting expectantly. It had been just over twenty minutes, but Carth was pacing and Canderous was fiddling with his blaster.

"There you are! What kept you?" Carth sounded irritated.

"I wasn't gone that long," I retorted. "I said an hour, it's barely been twenty minutes."

"Never mind that now," said Juhani. "What did you find?"

"Roland Wann said she left this datapad for me, to be read in front of the entire crew."

"What does it say?" Carth demanded immediately.

I pulled out the datapad. "We're about to find out."

_Everyone,_

_I don't expect your forgiveness. All I ask is that you listen to me. One last time. _

_Revan or no, I have to kill Malak. It's my only hope of saving the galaxy from him. Not even Revan likes the idea of a galaxy in his clutches. _I could almost hear Caeli's mirthless laugh after this sentence.

_I will kill him, I will find the Star Forge, with or without your help. According to recent events, it seems to be leaning toward without. _

_Don't worry. I'll see this through to the end. I have everything I need, and I've gone to find the last piece of the puzzle: the Manaan Star Map. By the time you read this, I'll probably be long gone. _

_I will finish this mission. I'll just have to do it alone. _

_And Carth, you don't have to worry. Once I've done what I was saved for, you won't have to worry about Revan. Ever. _

_I loved you all. For what it's worth, I'm sorry. _

_-Caeli Jayde _

A thin line was drawn through her name. Underneath, she had written one word: _Revan._

_"What?_" Carth asked.

"Would you like me to simplify it, Carth?" I snapped. "She's. Gone. She thinks we don't trust her, she thinks we hate her, she thinks some of us—" a glance at Carth— "want her dead, and she couldn't take it anymore. She's gone."

"_Why?"_

"I _just_ explained it to you."

"What do we do?" The question came from Mission.

"We have to go after her," I replied readily.

"But how? She has the data from all the Star Maps, we only have the first four!" the Twi'lek pointed out.

"We can't expect her to do all the work, can we?" I asked, smirking slightly. "Three people can fit in the sub, from what I remember. Three of us go down there, get the Star Map, and go after her. It's all we _can_ do."

"Sounds simple enough." Mission was nodding approvingly. "Who's going?"

An argument broke out. Everyone wanted to go. After a couple minutes of this, I yelled to make myself heard. "QUIET! This isn't helping!" Everyone calmed down almost immediately.

"Athena should go," said Mission suddenly.

"I was planning on it anyway," I said, "but thanks for the vote of confidence. As for the others…" I thought for a moment. "I think Carth should come. He wants to do something for Caeli, and since no contact with Caeli is involved in this, it's something he can do."

"And the third?" he asked.

I debated bringing Dustil but decided against it. That would be the most awkward trio to ever hit the face of the galaxy. Carth and Dustil still hadn't mended all their fences, Dustil and I hadn't spoken directly since the Leviathan, and Carth and I were both on edge about Caeli.

"I'd like you to come, Juhani. A Jedi will definitely be helpful down there."

"I would be honored to join your company," she said, bowing her head slightly.

I laughed nervously. "All right, let's go." I wasn't really comfortable with Juhani, but she and Jolee were the only two available Jedi, and I really didn't feel like listening to another story on the sub ride down. The three of us got ready and left the ship, heading for the Republic Embassy.

**A/N: I forgot to say at the beginning and I don't feel like scrolling back up to the top, so I'll just say thanks to everyone who reviewed! You all are fantastic. Seriously, every single time I get a review, I get this little bubble of happiness inside. You're all fantastic! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Have a great...however long it is until I update again!**

**-Athena**


	23. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: Don't own the characters, the story, etc. (except Athena, cuz she's me, and my random plot-twist thingies that I don't think are actually possible)**

**A/N: So, y'all should be grateful. See, I was planning to start a 3-times-a-week updating schedule (days when I have block study hall-Wednesday and Friday-and Sunday) but I just finished the first (and probably only) draft of my art history paper, and I was desperate to have something non-school-related to do, so here I am. This chapter's a bit longer than the last couple, hope you enjoy it! Happy reading!**

Chapter Twenty-Two

Roland Wann glared at me. "I said, no one's going back down there until we can get this situation under control."

"And _I _said, if we _don't_ go down there it could cost us the _galaxy!_ Caeli's gone, she left without us, and if we don't follow her, she'll—well, bad things will happen. Trust me on this. If you don't let us down there, it might cost the war."

"How?"

"Caeli has the power to decide the fate of the galaxy! She's alone, out there, confused and disoriented, just barely recovering from a shocking revelation that turned her world upside down! The smallest push, the smallest suggestion could turn her to the Dark Side! The galaxy wouldn't fall to Malak, it would be worse. Much worse. You don't even want to know. It would be Revan over again. Please, let us help her."

"If what you say is true, I suppose I have no choice. Take the submersible to the underwater station. You'll find your Star Map down there."

I nodded my thanks and we proceeded to the submersible docking bay. The submersible did indeed seat three, and probably could have seated four if we'd all wanted to be cramped for ;the duration of the journey. Since I had no idea how long said journey was supposed to take, I figured we probably didn't want that.

The sub took off (or submerged, or whatever you want to call it) and zoomed off into the water.

"How long is this going to take?" Carth asked.

"The journey? I have no idea," I said. "The game had no concept of time. Just a couple of cutscenes, and boom, you're there. The entire thing only took me around twenty-four hours, the third time around. I forget how long the second one took. The first took nearly forty. I don't even remember how long KotOR 2 took me… but the story for the first one was way better. The second one was a bit depressing for my taste."

"What was the story?"

"I can't tell you, can I? It may yet happen. Now, I never played the version where you could have Revan be dark sided. She wasn't in the game itself, but people talked about her. A lot, actually. But this is depressing me. Can we talk about something else?"

After a short pause, Juhani asked me to tell about my world. It was a bit difficult for me, talking about a world I wasn't sure I would ever see again, but I told her all there was to tell: I told her the gist of how Earth runs, and then I moved on to my personal life: my home, my friends, my family.

We finally lapsed into silence, each lost in our own thoughts. A Firaxan Shark zoomed past our submersible. The light was fading fast around us, indicating our depth. I hoped it wouldn't be too much longer. I was hoping to follow Caeli as soon as possible.

It was still about half an hour until we docked in the underwater research facility. We spent most of it in silence. Once, though, towards the end, Carth spoke up. He sounded almost fearful, as though he wanted the answer but wasn't sure if he would like it.

"What's going to happen to Caeli?" he asked tentatively.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "She'll make it to Lehon before us—"

"What's Lehon?"

"Well, in the game they called it the Unknown World, but its proper name is Lehon. It's also known as Rakata Prime. Anyway, it's a planet in the Star Forge system. The only planet in the Star Forge system, actually. She'll get there, crash, and need to turn off the disruptor field surrounding the planet. She'll ask either the One's tribe of Rakata or the Elders for help getting into the Temple of the Ancients to shut the thing off. They'll ask her to do a favor for them, and she'll end up slaughtering the group that isn't helping her. I always sided with the Elders, they had morals. But anyway, she'll head into the Temple (in the game, Jolee and Juhani accompany her, but that's not possible now) and there'll be Dark Jedi everywhere, and she'll go on a rampage, and finally she'll make it to the summit of the Temple. And then all hell will break loose."

"What do you mean?"

"I… I can't tell you," I said. "Not yet. When it comes time to be prepared for whatever hits us, I'll tell you. But not yet. Please, trust me on this. I can't have you worrying about this when we need our focus on finding the Star Map." He nodded, looking disappointed, but not altogether surprised.

We fought our way through the base to the airlocks (though we didn't have much fighting to do because Caeli had been there first), finding the environmental suit Caeli must have left behind. And miniature hell broke loose.

"I'll go," said Carth immediately.

"My Jedi powers would be of a greater advantage in the rest of the base," Juhani argued. "I will have more of an advantage against the Selkath and any others that might be left."

They argued back and forth for almost a minute before I managed to make myself heard. "NO!" They fell silent and looked at me. "I'm going. And no, this is not up for debate," I added as Carth opened his mouth to argue.

"But—"

"No. I am going, and there's not a damn thing you can do to stop me."

"Athena—"

"No. Just no. I'll get the Star Map and return in one piece. I have the Sonic Emitter that drives off the Firaxan Sharks, I'll be fine. I promise."

Carth shot me a worried look but did not object. Juhani remained silent, her expression stony. I was starting to wonder if I'd made a mistake bringing her. She was too fiery, too passionate. Her brush with the Dark Side had left her that much more vulnerable. Still, though, there wasn't much I could do about that now.

I donned the environmental suit, then prepared to enter the airlock. Turning back to my companions one last time, I instructed, "Take care of each other, 'kay? I wouldn't want you dying while I'm gone." I winked, though I was pretty sure they couldn't see me, and stepped into the airlock.

"Athena," Carth's voice called me back.

"Hm?" I turned around agonizingly slowly. The game wasn't exaggerating. Those suits really did restrict movement… a _lot._

"Be careful." I saw the same concern in his eyes that was sometimes present when he was worried about Caeli, and I was touched that he cared. I offered him a small smile.

"I will. I promise."

I stepped into the airlock and began the sequence.

When I emerged on the other side, I was in the underwater section of the facility, not yet on the ocean floor. Still, I kept my hand on the sonic emitter, waiting to use it at a moment's notice. Better safe than sorry, I figured.

I suddenly remembered my friend Kayleigh's reaction when I had showed her this section of the game. Freaking out every time a Firaxan shark had come close, screaming at random intervals, being exceptionally paranoid, the whole deal. I had laughed at her then, but now… I thought she might have a point. As I emerged onto the ocean floor, I saw some sharks circling around nearby and it nearly froze my blood.

The game didn't make them half as scary as it should have. Then again, if it had, people like Kayleigh probably would have fainted from sheer terror. The smallest one was at least ten feet long, and their eyes had a sinister glow to them, a dark light that seemed like it shouldn't have existed, even without the oxymoron. I was literally paralyzed from fear as one of them broke away from the small group to come towards me. Its tail waved back and forth almost in a hypnotic fashion, and its green-gray skin reflected the few rays of sunlight that penetrated the water. But I was spellbound by those sparkling dark eyes. It drew nearer. Its mouth opened, easily large enough to bite my head off. Its yellowing, pointed teeth, stained with blood, spoke to me of its recent kills, of the other life forms it had eaten. I was about to join them. And that broke the hypnosis.

I squeezed the control of the sonic emitter, and a wave of energy pulsed out from the device in my hand, striking the shark and killing it almost instantly. Instead of floating eerily a few feet above the ocean floor, as it did in the game, it floated eerily in the general direction of the surface and beyond my notice. Especially since another shark was approaching and the sonic emitter wasn't quite recharged yet. I waited impatiently, prepared to turn and run the other direction if I had to, before I noticed that there was another shark approaching from that side. They had me cornered.

I didn't meet their eyes. I'd learned my lesson last time. I simply watched the loading bar, as it were, on the sonic emitter, until it had filled and signaled that it was ready to be fired again. Praying it worked, I activated it. The sonic wave pulsed outwards again, killing both the sharks and saving me a second time from having my head bitten off. This was going to be a long trip.

I backed into the airlock of the southern part of the base, activating the emitter one last time before I closed the airlock door behind me. Turning around, I began the airlock sequence, waiting for the water to drain out so I could ditch this damn suit and get the Star Map. I really hoped I wouldn't have to lug the thing across the base, because that would be a waste of my time. Really.

I pulled out my sword as I moved forward into the base, Fortunately, I only met with a small amount of resistance. Apparently Caeli hadn't been in too much of a hurry to wipe out almost the entire population of insane Selkath, which was fine by me. I struck down the few remaining ex-researchers and made it to the other airlock. There was nothing there. Damn it. I should have known it wouldn't have been that easy.

Almost fifteen minutes later, I reached the airlock for the second time. If I thought this suit was slow in the water, it was twice as slow out of it. Seems counter-intuitive, but it was built to move around in the water. This was decidedly not the water, and it was a lot heavier on land. I even fell over once or twice.

Finally I was out on the ocean floor again. And then I felt a strike from behind. I seemed to fall forward in slow motion as I gripped the sonic emitter tightly, squeezing the control to activate it. The shark behind me flipped upside down and floated out of sight. I breathed a sigh of relief before I felt wetness beneath my feet. The shark's blow had cracked my suit slightly. And it was leaking.

The two plus sides: the suit still had oxygen, and the leak was very slow. The down side: I had to get to the Star Map and back before I drowned or the suit gave in to the pressure and crushed me. And if I didn't, if I miscalculated, I would die out here. And no one would ever know.

But I was on a time constraint, so I couldn't worry about that now. I would worry about my impending death once it was actually impending. I headed forward again, holding the sonic emitter at the ready so no other Firaxan sharks could do more harm to my already damaged environmental suit.

I was attacked by two more sharks, but I managed to fend them off with the emitter and my suit didn't sustain any more damage.

Halfway across the bridge to the map, I discovered a problem. The more water filled the suit, the slower I was getting. Not to mention that the giant shark was still floating there, watching my every move. If it decided to attack me, I wouldn't have to wait until I drowned. I was pretty sure that if I ever got back home, I would be as terrified of sharks as Kayleigh was.

There was nothing to do but keep going. I felt the chill of the water just below my knees. I hoped I would make it, but there was no way of knowing. I felt myself drowning, not in the water, not yet, but in the icy chill of fear. I was internally numb.

Moving at a snail's pace, I finally reached the map and was able, far too slowly, to recover the data we needed, recalling how Caeli had done it back on Tatooine. I turned around and headed back in the direction of the base. The chill crept up my thighs. My feet were entirely numb. Another shark swooped down on me and I activated the sonic emitter yet again. I didn't have time for this. The water had reached my waist, and my legs were quickly losing feeling, burning from the cold. My panic level was rising with the water.

When I reached the airlock, I was barely able to stand. The water reached up to my chest as I activated the airlock control. I stumbled into the airlock and waited impatiently for the water to drain out so I could abandon the waterlogged suit. When the airlock was halfway empty, I remembered that I'd gone through the wrong door. The _other_ door outside led to the other part of the base. Damn it.

I switched the airlock control back so the water drained into the airlock again. I stepped back outside, shivering, whether from cold or fear or both, I didn't know or care. The other door was only about fifteen feet away, but it felt like fifteen miles. Every step I took was dragged down by the water which was now climbing to my neck. The airlock was still several feet away.

The water flowed down the arms of my suit, and my fingers began to go numb along with the rest of my body. The only thing I was focused on was my will to survive. At that moment, the very real possibility of my own impending death hit me. For a moment, I was nearly paralyzed with fear before I realized that my self-induced paralysis was more likely to lead to my death than anything else. I shook it off and continued forward, activating the airlock control with numb fingers. I took a deep breath and held it as the water covered my nose and mouth. The water drained out, but much too slowly. I was beginning to feel lightheaded and dizzy. The water level was at my knees, and I was losing coherent thought. I opened the suit.

Water flooded out of my suit and into the airlock, but I took a gasping breath. I was almost hyperventilating, trying to get the oxygen to circulate back into my body. My vision started to go gray, and I heard the telltale ringing in my ears that meant I was about to pass out. I decided not to fight it. I let it happen.

**A/N: Sorry, I couldn't resist the drama :P. Hope you enjoyed, cuz I probably won't get another chapter up till Wednesday at least. Fortunately, only one more day till Thanksgiving break, yay! On the down side, I've got an AP English prompt tomorrow as well as a Calculus quiz... ew. I'll live, I suppose. Have a great day! Or however long it ends up being... you're all wonderful! **

**-Athena**


	24. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: This stuff doesn't belong to me! *grrrr* **

**A/N: THANKSGIVING BREAK! Thank the Lord, I thought school was going to kill me before we got there. Anyway, here I am, back with yet another chapter! And here's an idea: if you like LSF RevanxCarth, I'd recommend reading SilverShards' Fleeting Memories Reoccurring Dreams. It is absolutely amazing! Probably my all-time favorite KotOR fanfic. Not complete yet, but every chapter is worth the wait! Anyway, here's my next chapter. Happy reading!**

Chapter Twenty-Three

When I woke up, I was lying in a puddle of water, and someone was calling my name.

"Athena! Athena! Damn it, wake up!" I opened my eyes and blinked several times. Carth's face came into focus, looking more concerned than I'd ever seen him, other than when we'd read Caeli's letter. As I watched, relief took the place of panic and fear.

"What happened?" I asked, coughing.

"I was about to ask you," he said. "Juhani got a… notion that we should come here… I opened the airlock and found you passed out in your suit. I got you out but you were still out cold. Are you all right?"

I coughed several more times, and some water came out of my mouth. I shivered. "I'll be okay," I said.

"Here," Carth took off his signature orange jacket and put it around my shoulders. "Come on, we should get back to the surface."

I nodded and attempted to stand, swayed on the spot, and almost fell over again. Carth caught me, and before I could object, I was in his arms, as Caeli often was, or had been before the revelation of her identity. I was too weak to even protest.

The next few minutes were a blur. Juhani went ahead, destroying any enemies we came across as I struggled to remain conscious. I was aware only of Carth's movements and of the sounds of lightsaber combat ahead of me.

I must have passed out again, because the next thing I remember, I was back in the submersible, heading back to the surface. Carth's jacket was clutched tightly around me. I sneezed, shook my head, and looked around. Juhani was meditating in her seat, and Carth was watching me, looking concerned.

"You get the data?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I found it," he replied. "What I didn't get was what happened to you."

I sighed. "Firaxan shark got a little too close, cracked my suit. I made it to the map and back, then I realized I went in the wrong door, and my suit was almost full of water. I made it to the other airlock, held my breath, opened my suit, and passed out. You found me, and I survived."

"That was a pretty big risk," he said. "You should have come back."

"I couldn't. We have to save Caeli. This is the only way. I know what the planet is, what it's called, what it will be called in the future, what species live there, and the basic layout, but I have no idea where in space it is. We needed this data so we could get there."

"And if you'd died?"

I shrugged. "Necessary sacrifice, I guess. But that's not the point. I didn't die. I'm still around, and I'm going to find Caeli if it's the last thing I do." I realized that it might very well be the last thing I ever did, particularly if Caeli reached Bastila before we reached her.

"It won't be," said Carth, "not if I have anything to say about it."

I smiled sadly. "You might not."

"I will die before I let that happen."

"You might not have a choice."

"Just stop it!" he almost shouted. "You're not going to die. We're going to find Caeli, and I'm going to make amends like I should have done a long time ago."

"If she'll let you," I added softly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Much as I know you regret it, you really hurt her," I informed him. A brief look of despair crossed his face.

"Yeah, I know. It's my fault she left," he said.

"Well…" I started, immediately feeling guilty for scolding him. He was beating himself up about it plenty without me doing it too. "It wasn't entirely your fault, I mean, there were other things…"

"Yeah, and they're all my fault too."

"That's not—"

"You said it yourself. I hurt her. She left. It's my fault. We can't do anything about that now, though, much as I wish I could. We have to get to her. We have to help her. I promised to protect her, and I intend to keep that promise."

"I know, Carth, I know. We'll do whatever we can. If she—" I cut myself off. "Never mind." I couldn't go revealing any more of the plot than I already had.

"If she what?" he asked. I didn't speak, but my expression must have given something away. "Is she going to fall, Athena?"

"I—it's a possibility," I said. "In the game, there's no turning back, whether you choose the light side or the dark side, but if she does turn, I'm not going to abandon her just because of that. I have to at least try to save her, and if I die in the attempt—"

"You're not going to die. I'll be right there, with you, and we _will_ save her."

"If she's even fallen."

"Right." We lapsed into silence. I was lost in thought, mostly worry about Caeli, and he was probably even more worried than I was.

A voice startled me out of my thoughts. "Have you recovered, Sapphire?" Juhani asked.

I shrugged. "Mostly. Still a bit damp and slightly chilly, but I'll be okay."

"Did you retrieve the data from the Star Map?"

"Would I be here if I hadn't?" I snapped. There was a pause, during which Juhani looked taken aback and slightly hurt, then I said, "Sorry. I'm just a little bit stressed at the moment. Yeah, I got it. As soon as we get back, we need to add it to the data from the other maps and head out. I'm not sure how long it'll take to get there, it never said in the game, but it'll probably take around a week or so. Depending on when Caeli left, she's got a head start of at least several hours, so we need to get going as soon as possible. Every second is important."

"Understood. I believe we have almost reached the surface," said the Cathar. Indeed, as she spoke, I could see through the water the inside of the Republic submersible docking bay. We broke the surface, and the submersible drifted towards the shore, for lack of a better word. We disembarked and found Roland Wann waiting for us.

"Was your mission successful?" he asked. I felt the strong urge to glare at him, but I suppressed it.

"Yeah, we got the map," I said. "And now, if you don't mind, we need to get going. The fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance. And that's not melodrama."

"Are you telling me—?"

"No time! I'm sorry, but every second is important, and if we don't leave now all could be lost." I turned to Carth and Juhani. "Come on, let's go."

I contacted Canderous as we left the Embassy, telling him to prepare the ship for departure and that we'd be there in a few minutes. When we arrived, Mission was waiting for us.

"Canderous is all ready to go," she informed us. "He just needs the coordinates from the Star Map."

"On it," I said instantly, dashing to the cockpit to input the data into the computer. Carth stepped up behind me, and Canderous stepped aside without a word as Carth took his customary place in the pilot's seat. We took off seconds later, soaring through Manaan's atmosphere into space, where Carth input the coordinates for the Star Forge System. As we rocketed into hyperspace, I dropped into the copilot's seat with a sigh.

"Is it just me, or is this going to be the longest week in the history of ever?"

Carth shook his head. "Not just you," he told me. "Definitely not just you."

**A/N: And there we are. Done with Manaan and entirely leaderless. Sounds like fun, right? I probably won't get to update tomorrow, I've got a bit of a busy schedule, but there should be one every other day of the week. Let's face it, what else have I got to do over break? Hope you enjoyed. Review if you've got a second. You're still wonderful! :D Have a great Thanksgiving! (or completely normal week, if you happen to not be from the US)**

**-Athena**


	25. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: Don't own this. I really need to get over it. **

**A/N: Hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving/completely normal day for non-Americans! Mine involved failing at ping-pong. 'Twas lots of fun. Anyway, here's the promised chapter for the day. (Oh, and I just spent about 5 hours at the mall. I don't think I ever want to go there again. Not on Black Friday, at least). Anyway, happy reading! **

Chapter Twenty-Four

Tensions ran high on the _Ebon Hawk_ as the days crawled by. I spent a lot of time the first day pacing around the ship, snapping at people who dared to interrupt my thoughts. I tried talking to people a few times, but each was dealing with the stress of worrying about Caeli and didn't appreciate me ruining their routine. Mission was involved in what seemed to be endless Pazaak with T3. Zaalbar was busy exploiting the food synthesizer. Canderous was furiously working on his swoop bike, even though it had been perfect for weeks. Sometimes I had a sneaking suspicion he was breaking it and fixing it again just to distract himself. Jolee seemed to be constantly either meditating or re-organizing the medical bay. Juhani was also meditating almost constantly. HK-47 had started off by whining to anyone who would listen about how his master had abandoned him to a gang of foolish, useless meatbags until he realized no one was listening. At this point, he put himself on standby and stood in a corner, fortunately no longer disturbing anyone. Dustil spent hours in the garage, working on his lightsabers, blasters, and anything else he could get his hands on. And Carth spent hours upon hours in the cockpit, hardly eating or sleeping, looking worse and worse each time my pacing took me to his corner of the ship. He was literally sick with worry.

Finally I gave up my pacing. I had to get Carth to see some form of sense, or he wouldn't do us any good by the time we were ready to face Caeli.

I knocked gently on the door frame.

"You've never knocked before," he pointed out.

"How'd you know it was me?" I asked.

"No one else has come to visit me in days. You're the only one who cares enough to put up with me."

I sighed, entering the cockpit and dropping into the copilot's chair. "You've got to stop this, Carth."

"Stop what?" he snapped without looking up.

"This!" I gestured around the cockpit. "This locking yourself up, hiding from the world, and literally driving yourself sick with worry. It doesn't help anyone; not Caeli and most definitely not you. At least eat something, or get some rest, or something!"

"When's the last time _you_ slept?" he demanded in answer.

"I haven't tried since… before Caeli's message."

"Because you don't look so great yourself. Have you looked in a mirror lately?"

"'Course not. I'd scare the hell out of myself and I know it."

"You ought to try. Maybe that'll encourage you to get some sleep."

"Make you a deal. Get Canderous or someone to monitor the ship for a while, and you get some sleep. I'll sleep if you sleep."

"Do you honestly think I could sleep with… with her out there? On her own? Thinking I hate her?"

"You might be surprised."

"Alright," he sighed. "You've got yourself a deal."

In my sleep, I saw Caeli. She was piloting an unfamiliar, uncomfortably white ship. I could only assume it was stolen: being a fugitive, she would have had no qualms about committing another crime to add to the list. The list itself was already punishable by death.

Caeli was leaned back in the pilot's seat, sleeping. I had to assume she'd put the ship on autopilot so she could get some rest. As I watched her, she started twitching uncontrollably, her face contorted in pain as though she were having a nightmare. Almost a minute later, she jerked awake screaming, "Carth!"

She glanced around, seemed to remember where she was, and her face fell. A single tear began the flood that would soon escape her eyes. Before I knew it, she was sobbing her heart out, all alone on an unfamiliar ship, and it shattered my heart.

"Carth…" she whispered through her sobs. I reached out to help her, but I was only in a dream. There was nothing I could do.

I jerked awake with a small cry and sat up, looking around my quarters. They were empty, but probably not for long, considering the noise I'd just made. Sure enough, within a few seconds, Mission entered the room.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Are you all right?"

I shook my head. "Nightmare. I'll be all right."

Mission seemed to accept my explanation, because she turned and left my room, glancing back once just to make sure I'd be okay. I nodded and she left.

I sat on my bed, leaning against the wall, my knees hugged to my chest, and the tears began to flow. I couldn't do anything to stop them. Because somewhere, out there, Caeli Jayde was alone, crying, and desperate. She was in pain, and I hadn't done anything to stop it. I hadn't even tried to save her. I hadn't even considered that she might leave without us.

"You're taking too much of this on yourself, you know," said a voice from the doorway. My head snapped up to look at the speaker, then fell again as I saw who it was. Dustil.

"What do you want?" I sighed. "I've got enough problems right now, thanks."

"I just… I wanted to say that… I was wrong. About you being a bad friend. I saw what you did for Caeli. Everything you said to my father, trying to get him to see reason, Mission told me you got in a shouting match with the head of the Republic Embassy, and Juhani said you almost died getting the Star Map. If those aren't the actions of a friend, I… I don't know what are. And… well, for what it's worth, I'm… I'm sorry." After his hesitant introduction, all his words came out in a rush, tripping over each other in their haste to leave his mouth, his eyes never leaving the point on the floor he had chosen as his object of scrutiny.

I stared at him for several long moments, wondering if I had heard correctly. Had he just _apologized_ to me?

I saw his face fall at my silence, obviously taking it as a rejection. "Look, if you don't want to hear it, I completely understand. I was a complete jerk to you, it's just… I think you're the only person in this entire crew who never gave up hope. You were always the one to rally us forward, you were the one to lead the missions on Manaan. You're the only reason any of us still have hope, and… you have no idea how much I admire you for it."

Wow. In about twenty seconds, we'd gone from an apology to a declaration of… whatever he was declaring. I supposed it was admiration, or respect, or something of that sort.

"Look, Dustil," I said, standing to face him. "I appreciate it. Really, I do. I just… I need some time to think things through, and to plan for all the possibilities. I want to be as prepared as possible for… what's coming." I knew I was changing the subject on purpose, and I knew it was cowardly, I just couldn't help it. Talk of feelings always scared me, and I'd sworn off boyfriends ages ago.

_Whoa, Sapphire, where did that one come from?_ I asked myself. _He didn't say _anything_ about… anything like that! _

He nodded hastily. "I understand," he said quickly. "Just… if you need anything…" He seemed to decide words weren't good enough to make his point, because at that moment, he leaned forward and brushed his lips against mine. It was by no means a major kiss, but it stirred within me emotions that I hadn't allowed myself to feel in years. I took a step back, eyes wide. He bowed his head for the briefest of moments before turning and leaving the room.

I stood there, frozen in place, for God knew how long. All I knew was that I had just been kissed. By Dustil Onasi, of all people. And that alone was enough to freeze me in place, staring straight ahead without seeing, eyes as wide and unblinking as they had been when he had first left the room.

**A/N: So, whoever called the ship, there you are. You'll have to wait and see what happens :P. Review please! They make me happy! Next chapter tomorrow, promise! **

**-Athena**


	26. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: You know the drill. Need I repeat myself for the 26th time? **

**A/N: And here is the promised chapter for the day. Happy weekend everyone! I am so very happy right now because I got a good score on the SAT! Anyway, here's the chapter. Glad you liked the shippiness :P. Happy reading!**

Chapter Twenty-Five

When I had recovered enough to move, I returned to my position, curled up on my bed, and tried to think about my dream, vision, whatever you want to call it, about Caeli. But all that I could think of was Dustil Onasi. _Damn him,_ I thought. _Damn distracting boy._

Finally, after what must have been hours, Mission came in to check on me and found me staring blankly at the opposite wall, chin resting on my knees.

"Hey, Athena, what's wrong?"

I shook my head, discovering almost immediately that words couldn't do my predicament justice.

Mission's eyes narrowed in a shrewd sort of way. "Is it Dustil?"

I shrugged halfheartedly.

"Aha!" Mission exclaimed triumphantly, clearly taking my shrug as a confession. She paused again and the shrewd look came back. "Did he kiss you?"

I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"He _did!_" she cried in what might have been shock or glee, I couldn't tell.

I nodded reluctantly.

She opened her mouth to continue ranting on about it, though what she would have said I have no idea, when I found my voice. "Mission." She stopped and looked at me. "This isn't the time. We have other problems here."

"Like what?" she demanded in her impatient-teenager voice, rolling her eyes as though I were an idiot.

"Oh, I don't know, _galactic domination by the Sith?_ Our best friend out there, alone, confused, wrestling with her identity, _extremely _susceptible to Dark influence? Our mission? The reason we're here in the first place?" Sarcasm drenched my words.

"Yeah, but we won't be there for another three days! It's not like we have much else to do."

"Than sit here and talk about boys. Right."

"Athena," Mission almost whined.

"Mission," I replicated her tone. "Can you please leave me alone? I need to consider all the possible outcomes and all the possible things we could do about them and I can't do that with you trying to get the juicy details on my love life. Get out."

"Whoa, sheesh, okay. But if you ever want to talk…" She left the tail end of her sentence dangling as she backed out the door.

I put my head in my hands. This was going to be a very long three days.

I spent the next day and a half cooped up in my room, writing down all possible scenarios that came into my head, only eating when Mission forced me to, and only sleeping when I dozed off in the middle of my work. I was so absorbed in my task for a very good reason, obviously: to take my mind off Dustil. I didn't even want to think about what I was going to say to him when next we crossed paths. Again, cowardly, I know, but what can I say? We can't all be perfect.

After a day and a half of this behavior, however, the very thing from which I was so determinedly fleeing confronted me in the flesh. Dustil walked into my room again. When I saw who it was I tried my utmost not to act absolutely terrified, and I probably failed miserably, judging by the look on my admirer's face.

"Judging by the way you've been hiding," he started.

"I haven't been hiding!" I cut in indignantly.

"Yes, you have," he informed me, "and don't even bother trying to deny it. But that's not my point. Judging by that, I'd say I, um, probably threw you off when I… you know…"

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, a bit."

"And I figured, well, um, I figured we should talk about it. Just… you know, so we can still, uh, be friends, and… stuff."

"Yeah, well, you see, here's the thing," I started. "I… I haven't even allowed myself to think that way about someone in years. It just… never even occurred to me. See, a few years ago, I… sort of fell in love. Or I thought I did. And… he liked me back, and it was the best thing in the world. Then I screwed up. Big time. I won't go into details, I still hate the memory of it, but he… he didn't think about me that way anymore. And I… I couldn't let go. I waited for him for four years before I finally realized he wasn't worth waiting for. And since then, well… I just figured if that's what happened when I fell in love… better not to fall in love to begin with. 'Cause it hurt. It hurt like hell, and I never, _ever_ want to go through that again."

He blinked. "Did you just tell me your life's story?"

"Well, my love life. The short version. Yeah. So, I'm sorry if I'm a little freaked out by this, I just… I need some time to get used to the idea that not everyone's like Stephen. Thank God. So, yeah. That's my story."

"If I didn't give you time after hearing something like that, I'd be officially classified as a heartless bastard," he informed me. There was a pregnant pause, a little more pregnant than I would have liked, perhaps, then he held out his hand. "Friends?" he asked.

I took it and shook. "Friends," I agreed, smiling slightly. Forgoing the formalities, I stood up and hugged him. He seemed surprised by this for a moment, but after that moment, he relaxed and hugged me back. When we broke apart, he gripped my shoulders and looked me in the eye.

"How are you?" he asked. "Really? I know you're putting yourself through a lot trying to help Caeli, and I appreciate what you're trying to do for her, but don't run yourself into the ground, okay? We're going to need you when we find her again, I get the feeling."

I nodded. "Thanks, Dustil. I, uh, should probably get back to it." I gestured at the datapad on my bed.

"Right," he said. "Good luck. And don't forget to get some rest sometime," he added over his shoulder as he left the room. I smiled slightly, let out a small laugh, and got back to work.

**A/N: So there you have it. We're drawing closer to the Unknown World with every chapter, and Athena has a love life! Yay! Tell me what you think, sorry if you wanted them to get together immediately, but it'll take some getting used to, as Athena explained. Review please! You're all awesome and reviews make me smile (or grin like an idiot, either one). Have a good day! **

**-Athena**


	27. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: blah, blah, blah, etc. etc. etc. Get used to it. I'm still working on that one. **

**A/N: Hello again! Sorry it's kind of late (it's still Sunday though!), I was busy learning this song for a choir audition this week. And watching Merlin... So ummmm hi! Here's your chapter! It's a bit longer this time. Happy reading!**

Chapter Twenty-Six

Two days later, during which Mission and Dustil conspired to force me to get some sleep, I found myself standing in the cockpit behind Carth's seat. The copilot's seat was occupied by none other than Dustil. Like father, like son, I supposed.

As I looked on, a slight lurch in the ship and the telltale stretched-out-star thing (as I liked to call it: I have no idea how else to describe it) told me we had dropped out of hyperspace. And as we emerged, it appeared directly in front of us, larger and more terrifying than anything I had ever imagined. The Star Forge. In no way did I imagine myself to be Force-sensitive, but even I could feel the darkness flowing from the space station like blood from an open wound.

"Sith fighters incoming!" Carth suddenly called out.

"I'm on it," said Canderous immediately, and a minute later, we heard the turret firing and the sounds of Sith fighters exploding. Carth was flying around in circles and loops, trying to remain out of the detection range of the Sith fleet while at the same time trying to avoid the fighters. The result was not good.

The ship suddenly started shaking uncontrollably. "Uh, we've got problems!" Carth noted. "We've flown into some kind of… disruptor field, all my instruments are jammed. I'm picking up a single planet in the system. I'll try to put us down there. Hold on. This may be a rough landing."

He wasn't kidding, either. In fact, it was a bit of a major understatement. Gripping the back of Dustil's chair though I was, I was still almost hurled across the cockpit on impact and thrown into the opposite wall. Fortunately, I emerged relatively unscathed. My back was scraped up and aching, and I was slightly dazed from a blow to the head, but I was still capable of functioning. I blinked a few times and found Carth standing over me.

"I did warn you," he said. "You all right?"

I blinked a few more times and shook my head to clear it. "Yeah, fine."

"Come on," said Dustil. "We need to decide our next move."

We congregated in the main hold as usual. The instant we walked into the room, Mission turned to Carth.

"Talk about your rough landings, Carth! You're flying like you've been on an all-night Tarisian ale drinking binge!" Her tone was lightly teasing, but Carth was oblivious to it.

"That disruptor field fried our stabilizers! We're lucky we made it down in one piece!"

"Give him a break, Mission," I sighed, smiling at her in what I hoped was an understanding sort of way. "What we need to do now is find Caeli. And I'm assuming we'll need some parts to repair the ship?" I turned my gaze to Carth, who nodded. "Well, there's wreckage scattered all over the planet. I'm sure we'll be able to find something."

"In the meantime, do you know where Caeli is?" Mission asked.

"I know several places where she could be, but unless any of you happen to speak Rakatan… our best bet is to wait outside the Temple of the Ancients. She will have crashed too, but we have no idea where her ship is or if it's even salvageable, or even if… well…"

"If she survived," Canderous growled. "She's alive. There's no way something as trivial as a crash could take out Revan."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," I said hastily, sensing rising tension again. "We need to get to the Temple, set up a guard. And we may have to kill a few young rancors. And maybe a few rogue Mandalorians."

Carth groaned, Mission squeaked, "Rancors!?" and Canderous growled, "Excellent," all at exactly the same moment.

"In response, Carth, deal with it, Mission, yes, rancors, but they're nowhere near as big or as deadly as the one on Taris, and Canderous, kill anything you want that's not friendly. We should get going. Split up in groups of three or four and take watches. We have no idea how long it will take her to get there, or get back there if she's already inside. And if she is inside, and the shield is down… well, only Force-sensitives can go in, but it might be a good idea to send someone after her."

There were almost immediately flaws, however. If we split up, and Caeli came back, who would alert the others? Who would join her if she was Dark sided? Who would be slaughtered without mercy? _No one, if I can help it,_ I answered myself.

"Jolee, Juhani, Mission, Zaalbar, T3, can you take the first watch? I'll show you where it is, but I need to do some thinking. Canderous, HK, if you want to come with so you can kill things, feel free."

Of course, Dustil and Carth followed without being invited, so that plan fell flat almost immediately. And so it was that the entire party left the ship, searching for Caeli Jayde.

However, we had barely gone a few steps when I stopped, aware of a gaping hole in this strategy. "I changed my mind," I said to the crew at large. "T3, can you keep an eye on the ship?" The droid beeped (probably something about missing all the fun) and wheeled back on board the _Hawk. _"Now I feel better about leaving her alone," I said, referring to the ship. "Let's go, people."

We set off again, me in the lead, hoping I knew where I was going. However, all the paths seemed to be relatively the same. We'd barely gone fifty yards, however, when we encountered the first corpses. They seemed to be at least a day old, according to Canderous (I figured he had experience with this kind of stuff, so I listened to him). She must have killed them shortly after she initially arrived.

I hastened up the path again, looking out for gizka or any surviving Rakata (of which there were none: Caeli had been very thorough) before I was sidetracked again. The right fork of the path led to a dead end, but it was an overlook of such breathtaking beauty that I had to stop. Kodak moment, I thought to myself. Even as I looked on the beauty of this world, however, I could feel that it was wrong, somehow, like it was stained with the dark blood seeping from the wound that was the Star Forge. I shivered involuntarily and turned away.

As we turned the next corner, however, all thought of the darkness was driven from my mind. I had registered the smell awhile back, but hadn't been able to attribute it to anything, so had done my best to ignore it. Now, however, we found ourselves facing the source. A dead rancor, a big one, marred by what looked like several lightsaber wounds.

"Well, she's been here all right," Canderous muttered to himself.

"Assessment," supplied HK-47. "The master was here approximately one day ago. She inflicted the consequences of her wrath on this gigantic meatbag, and, as is to be expected with such encounters, it did not survive."

"Thanks for spelling it out, HK," I grumbled sarcastically. "Should've left him with the ship," I muttered to myself.

"Rebuttal: Indeed you should not, meatbag. For although the master has ordered me not to kill you, I am still quite capable of harming you in several ways should you attempt to prevent me from carrying out my primary function."

"What, killing things?"

"Correction: Negative. My primary function is to follow the orders of the organic meatbag distinguished as Revan. While I would prefer that these orders be carried out in as violent and bloody a manner as possible, the service of my master remains my primary function."

"Whatever. Can you shut up now?"

"Gleeful Response: Oh, you should not have asked, meatbag. While my primary function is to follow the orders of my master, it does not require me to comply with the orders or requests of other members of your inferior species."

"Oh, dear Lord, does anyone know a way to turn him off?"

He started to respond when a blast hit him from behind. As he fell over, temporarily decommissioned, Mission holstered her ion pistol behind him.

"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that," she told me.

"We'll have to take him with us," I decided. "Much as I would love to just leave him here, Caeli would kill us. Z, can you handle that?"

Zaalbar roared in reluctant agreement.

"Thanks, big fella. It's not much farther, I promise. Come on."

Zaalbar scooped up the droid as we continued in the direction of the temple, which was now in view. As we stepped onto what served as the temple's front lawn, I stopped to stare.

A video game could never capture the full grandeur of the place. The structure, while slightly blocky and awkward towards the bottom, was sleek and elegant the nearer it drew to the spire. Carvings adorned the outer walls. I even saw one at a corner that reminded me of a Weeping Angel, and I shuddered involuntarily again. A slight rippling effect covering the door told me that the force field was still up, so either Caeli was inside and hadn't yet reached the summit, or she just hadn't gotten here yet. I was really, _really_ hoping for the latter.

"Right," I said. "We need to establish some sort of camp or base or something. Canderous, HK, go that way." I pointed off to the right. "That's where the Mandalorians are, and there should be some rancors there too. Carth, Dustil, and I will go the other way." Canderous nodded and motioned for the droid to follow him.

Drawing out the Neptune Spoon, I started in the other direction, Carth and Dustil close behind me. As I was about to round the corner of the building, I heard a roar. An earthshaking, bloodcurdling roar that almost literally rattled my teeth. I peered around the corner hesitantly and immediately regretted my decision. There was a rancor charging towards us. And there was a second hot on its tail.

The first was about fifteen feet tall, the second a bit smaller. Both had mottled brown, slimy skin (or at least, it was slimy-looking: I had no desire to get anywhere near enough to touch it). Their faces were sort of squashed so that the only feature that really made any difference in their appearance was the mouth which, when it opened, was about the size of my head, if not a little bigger. Said mouth was lined with dozens of pointed fangs which probably weren't meant to bite anything smaller than a Gamorrean, but I imagined humans would do. And the smell… I had thought the stink of that other one was so bad just because it had been dead awhile. I was wrong. The live ones smelled nearly as bad.

Trying not to gag, I stood my ground as it charged us. Dustil, however, was much more impatient. He activated his lightsaber and Force jumped towards it, landing on its head. The thing immediately started bucking like a mad bull. Dustil managed to get a good stab to the back of its neck before it threw him off, however, and it fell as he did. The rancor simply collapsed, but Dustil flew at least ten feet off to the left and crashed to the ground, unmoving. Concerned though this made me, I couldn't do anything for him just yet; there was still another rancor bearing down on us, roaring even louder than the first one.

Carth started firing at it, but the bolts seemed to do little to deter it: in fact, all they did was make it angrier. I sighed. My turn.

I let out a yell and charged at the rancor, which is probably one of the stupider things I've done in my lifetime. The thing turned towards me, roaring, and several flecks of saliva hit me. It burned where it touched my skin. _Great_, I thought. _No one told me its spit was acidic._ Even though it probably wasn't actually acidic, it sure felt like it.

I held out the Neptune Spoon, and with a touch from my mind, blue fire shot up and down the blade. I held it at arm's length in front of me, seeking to keep the rancor at bay. It stopped about a foot away from the tip of the sword and roared again. _Really,_ I thought, _can't you be more creative?_ _Shouldn't expect much from a rancor, I suppose. _

I lunged like I'd learned in fencing and managed to touch the flaming tip of the sword to the rancor's flesh. It didn't roar this time. It screamed. It was a deep, rough scream, but it was definitely a scream. It trampled around in circles, howling in apparent agony. I almost felt sorry for it before I remembered that seconds ago it had been trying to kill me.

It whirled in a rage and charged me again. I waited until almost the last moment, when I stepped aside and held out the sword. The monster ran directly into the blade, and I yanked it away. The monster howled again, then stumbled forward several steps before falling. I walked warily up to its corpse, stabbing it one last time in the neck with my flaming sword, just to make sure.

Extinguishing the flames with my thoughts, I ran to Dustil. Carth was at my side in less than an instant. We flipped Dustil onto his back, and Carth started checking for broken bones.

Dustil groaned and stirred. His eyes fluttered slightly before opening and meeting mine. "'Thena?" he asked thickly. "What happened?"

"Rancor threw you halfway across the lawn," I told him. "Knocked you out. You feeling okay?"

He tried to sit up and groaned again. "Sore as hell."

"Nothing's broken," Carth said.

"You'll probably have some bruises from hell though," I pointed out. "Come on, let's get back to camp. I think that's all of them."

Carth and I helped Dustil to his feet, at which point he winced and took the weight off his right leg. "Sprained ankle," he muttered.

I put his arm around my shoulders. "Once we get back to the others, Jolee can patch you up."

He nodded and we started to make our slow way back to the temple entrance, Carth walking ahead of us to guard from any hostile activity, not that there was any. Caeli seemed to have wiped most of them out already.

The others were waiting for us, and Jolee got started on Dustil the second we put him down on the grass. Within a few minutes, he was back in shape, ready to fight anything else that came our way.

We sat down around the ceremonial fire, and Mission pulled out her Pazaak deck. She had just started dealing, however, when something caught my eye. The shield in front of the door to the temple rippled and vanished.

"Jolee, Juhani," I said.

"I see it, lass."

"We shall enter the temple immediately," said Juhani, grabbing her lightsaber.

"Be careful, both of you. The door you want to take is directly across from the entrance. And if I'm right, there's a Dark Jedi up there. A powerful one. Maybe more than one. Just… be careful. And come back alive."

"We'll do our best, lass," Jolee replied. Both Jedi turned and ran into the temple, vanishing from view as the door closed behind them.

I couldn't sit still after that. I started pacing back and forth, walking up the ramp and down again, orbiting the fire, anything to keep me distracted, but it wasn't working. We were approaching the moment of truth. Either Caeli turned, or she didn't. And if she did, we had a hell of a job on our hands, something that might even be impossible.

I sat down, trying to gather my thoughts, only to pop back up again seconds later, unable to take it.

"Sheesh, Athena, calm down," Mission remarked after several minutes of this. "They'll be all right. They're Jedi!"

"So are the dark ones," I pointed out. "And… oh, this is dangerous, this is way too dangerous…"

Though it was probably only a few minutes, it felt like hours later when the door to the temple ground open. I jumped like I'd received an electric shock and turned toward the entrance, hand on my sword. I wasn't taking any chances.

Red hair was the first thing I saw. _Caeli. _Immediately afterwards, however, a fist of fear clenched around my heart. The figure behind her was not Jolee or Juhani. It was Bastila. Which had to mean…

"_Damn it!"_ I swore. I knew what this meant. I could only hope that the game would be wrong again. If it wasn't, there was no turning back, and all would be lost.

The others looked at me, confused for a moment, before turning back to Caeli and Bastila.

"Caeli! Bastila! You're alive! I thought for sure we'd lost you…" Carth sounded relieved. I didn't want to burst his bubble, but someone had to.

"We have," I said in a hollow voice.

"What are you talking about?" asked Mission.

"Jolee and Juhani aren't here. Either they didn't see them, or they're…" I didn't finish.

"_Why?"_ Mission asked me.

"Malak turned Bastila, but Revan's power was too tempting. Bastila has betrayed her master, and now those two are planning to overthrow him."

"But that's good, right?"

I shook my head. "They're not planning to defeat him, they're planning to replace him. Reinstate Revan as Dark Lord." My voice was hollow, empty. I couldn't believe this had happened.

My eyes were involuntarily drawn to Carth. He was staring at Caeli as if he had never truly seen her before. His facial expression is impossible to describe, somehow combining fear, pain, and guilt. What surprised me more than anything, however, was the absence of betrayal from his features. And then I realized why: he still blamed himself. He thought her fall was his fault.

"Who will join us?" demanded Bastila, staring out at all of us with an air of bitchy superiority. "Those who do not will fall before the wrath of Darth Revan!"

"Caeli," Carth pleaded, completely ignoring Bastila. "This isn't you. Please, we can help you, just—"

"You know, I think the fool may actually be in _love_ with you, Revan," Bastila remarked, her tone mocking.

Caeli's icy glare fixed on Carth for a moment before turning back to Bastila. "Perhaps once," she corrected her new apprentice, "but he has made abundantly clear his feelings towards Revan."

"Now, who will join Revan's new empire?" Bastila demanded again. Her eyes swept the group.

"You should leave now," I piped up, "while you have the chance."

"Is that a threat, Athena Sapphire? You're nothing more than a hopeless fool, trying to keep up with your betters. And failing miserably, might I add. What can you alone do to stop Revan's rise?"

"Watch me," I hissed. I didn't take action, though. Not yet.

"Who else will foolishly stand before the might of Revan?"

"I can't let you join the Sith!" Mission cried, probably trying to sound defiant, but it came out as a panicked squeak.

"Zaalbar will join me," said Revan in a cold, detached voice. "So will the droids. The Jedi are dead. Carth has made his view of Revan quite plain. Mission… you could still join us."

"I saw what the Sith did to Taris! They're evil! You can't join them! I can't just stand by and let you do that!"

"Then face the wrath of Darth Revan!" cried Bastila. She moved to attack Mission.

Something inside me snapped.

"No!" I shouted, making a beeline for Bastila, blocking her strike with my sword as she moved in for the kill. "This is all your fault!" I shouted at her. "How could you? You hit Cael at her weakest! She was confused, and she didn't know what to think of anything. You bitch! _You_ killed Jolee and Juhani! And I'm not going to let you kill anyone else!"

"You can't stop me, _Thena,"_ she spat, putting an emphasis on the nickname that made it sound as though it were the worst insult she could think of.

"Can't I? That's always been your problem, Bastila. You underestimate people. I've become a lot stronger in your absence."

"Then you should have learned not to let your guard down!" she snapped, sending my sword flying out of my hand with a well-placed strike. "So ends the short, meaningless life of Athena Sapphire, whose true name none in this world will ever know."

A blur landed in front of me and engaged Bastila. "You should learn," Dustil growled at her, "that if you want your enemies dead, you shouldn't make long speeches before you kill them. Gives their friends a chance to intervene on their behalf."

"Thanks, Dusty!" I called back to him as I went for my sword. As I picked it up, however, I found a streak of orange light descending on me. I raised my sword in time to block Caeli's lightsaber.

"It doesn't have to be this way, you know," I said quietly as we started dueling.

"I know," she replied, not a trace of regret in her voice. "You could still join us."

"Not on your life. No, I meant you could still turn away from the Dark Side."

"And what would I stand to gain by doing that?"

"It's not what you gain by turning away, it's what you lose by staying. Think on that as you complete your quest."

Caeli spun out of my reach and deactivated her lightsaber. "Enough," she commanded. "Those who will join us, follow me. Zaalbar, you are bound by a lifedebt. HK, I know you'll follow me willingly. Canderous—"

"Light side, Dark side, it doesn't matter to me," the Mandalorian cut in. "You are Revan, and I'm your man until the end."

She nodded curtly in response. "Let's go, then. Lead the way, Bastila." The small party took off towards the beaches.

"Caeli…" The broken word came from Carth. "I swore to protect you. And if it has to be from yourself, I swear I'll do whatever I can. I'm sorry…" The last two words came out in a choked whisper, one it was doubtful Caeli heard. However, she paused in her running for a moment, then continued without turning around.

"Caeli…" Carth said again. His knees gave way and he fell into a kneeling position. Mission went to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

Dustil, meanwhile, was staring at the temple, with an expression on his face that looked like he was doing mental math or something. "Athena," he said after a moment. "Someone's alive in there."

**A/N: So there we have it. Minor cliffhanger there, nothing too major (I think). Hope you enjoyed! Quickly, before I go, I'd like to address something one of the reviewers brought up: a sequel. I actually do have a sequel in the works (and a 3rd one too) but the sequel doesn't follow KotOR 2, it actually covers the period between Revan's departure and the Exile's departure/arrival in the Unknown Regions (you'll see what I mean). It also doesn't really have Athena in it, but follows Mission and a couple of my OCs that I introduced briefly earlier. The 3rd one will cover the continuing search for Revan. I'll get back to you with more details and options and such, but you'll be getting a sequel, never fear. Anyway, review if you've got a moment, hope you're having a good day! **

**-Athena**


	28. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: ... I really don't own this. :'( **

**A/N: I have 50 reviews! Happiness! You're all amazing! Anyway, on to the next chapter. I left you all on a bit of a cliffie last time, but here we are again, and hopefully that will be resolved within the first paragraph or so ;) Happy reading!**

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Dustil's mission, in my opinion, took far too long. After what was probably ten minutes but felt like an eternity, he emerged from the temple with Jolee's arm around his shoulders, helping the old man limp down the entrance ramp.

"They left him for dead," he supplied as an explanation. "I have no idea how he survived so long, but… Juhani wasn't so lucky." We bowed our heads in a moment of silence to acknowledge the Cathar's sacrifice. Regretfully, however, we had no more time to spend mourning her.

"We've got to get back to the task at hand." I was no more enthusiastic about it than anyone else was, but someone had to say it. "The ship still needs to be repaired. I'm pretty sure I know where to find the parts. Watch out, though, there's a minefield. Carth, Dustil, I trust you can take care of that? T3 can help you, and Mission?" She nodded. "Good. Get the ship operational, I need to come up with some sort of plan. Did you send a message to the Republic with our location, Carth?"

"Yes," he replied immediately. "And now that the planetary disruptor field's down, we should be able to fight on somewhat even ground."

"Metaphorically speaking, of course. But they have Bastila, and we don't. We'll have to go on board the Star Forge itself if we want any hope of ending this. We find Bastila, and either turn her back to the light (sometimes works but not always) or… stop her from using her Battle Meditation. Then we go on and find Caeli. Carth," I turned to the pilot, "you're literally our only hope. No offense, but you're the one who convinced her we all hate her. Maybe you can turn the tables, convince her the light side is worth something."

"I have to protect her," Carth whispered. "I'll protect her or die trying, and if it's at her hand… it's no more than I deserve."

"Carth Onasi, snap out of it! You're not doing Caeli any good by moping and blaming yourself! Now, the crashed ship is along that path." I indicated the path to the Elder settlement. "Just follow the path and you can't miss it. Oh, and watch out for the plasma vents. Dustil, help him out. Mission, help me get Jolee back to the ship and tell T3 what's going on. Everyone move out!"

Carth and Dustil hurried over to the path before Mission and I had even moved.

"Got any medpacs, Mish?" I asked. "If we patch him up here, it'll be a lot quicker getting back to the ship."

We managed to heal most of his minor injuries and to patch up the major ones: a lightsaber wound to his side, as well as to his left leg. He still walked with a limp when we were done, but at least he could walk.

We made our way back to the ship at this point and found T3 waiting for us. Apparently he hadn't been important enough to Revan that she would come back for him. I decided to take that as a plus.

I got Jolee into the medical bay while Mission filled in the droid on what had happened. A few minutes after that, Carth and Dustil returned with the necessary parts, and they, along with T3's help, began to repair the ship. Dustil took a short break to help Mission heal Jolee, who was feeling much better in no time. Dustil, however, insisted that he get some rest, as he'd just been saved from the brink of death.

Dustil went back to repairing the ship, and Mission stayed to keep an eye on Jolee, so I was stuck with nothing to do and way too much to worry about. I decided to focus on Caeli to distract me from thoughts of Juhani. How we were going to convince Caeli to return to the light side was my main concern. Carth was my secret weapon, but I had to figure out a way to get her to listen to him without simply killing him on the spot. I knew Caeli would never do such a thing, but Revan… I wasn't so sure.

It was at this point that I realized I was pacing. In fact, I had been for some time without actually noticing I was doing it. I stopped abruptly, turning to sit down in the nearest chair, which happened to be against the wall in the main hold. It also happened to be the chair Juhani sometimes occupied during meetings, which didn't make me feel any better.

_I shouldn't have told them to go in. I knew there was a risk, we should have just waited. Nobody would have died, Jolee wouldn't have been injured—_

"You're doing it again." A voice entered the room, followed immediately by Dustil. "Blaming yourself."

I sighed deeply. "I should've—"

"_Don't._ Just don't. Look, I know you have knowledge beyond anything any of us could hope for, but that doesn't mean you don't make mistakes. You're just as human as the rest of us."

"Just because I can make mistakes doesn't mean I shouldn't think, though! Had I been thinking, I would have known not to send Jolee and Juhani in there, and Juhani never would have died! I just—" I was cut off by a choked sob. It took me a few seconds to realize it had come from me, and that tears were now pouring down my face. "I've never been responsible for anyone's life before," I whispered. "Or death," I added. "What do I do, Dustil?"

He took several steps forward, knelt in front of me, and met my eyes. His gaze was so intense that I almost looked away, but somehow, I couldn't. "You need to let her go, Athena," he said quietly, but firmly. "What's done is done, and you can't change it by hoping, or by wishing, or by regretting. Trust me, I've been there. You have to focus. All you can do for her now is make sure that she didn't die in vain. Think of the lives that can be saved if Caeli is redeemed!"

Instead of cheering me up, as I'm sure was his intent, this sent a fresh wave of despair crashing over me. "But that puts their lives on my head, too!" I cried. "I have to succeed, I have to save Caeli, or thousands more will die! And if I fail… their deaths will be my fault!"

He gripped my shoulders again, staring at me with those deep, brown eyes. "Athena. Listen to me. If Revan causes any more deaths, the blood is on her hands, and hers alone. You're taking way too much of this on yourself. Just because you're some sort of omniscient being doesn't mean everything is down to you. And if you remember nothing else, remember this: you are not alone. I'm here for you, as are Mission, my father, Jolee, even the droid. You don't have to do this alone. Now, pull yourself together, and focus on the task at hand. We need all the help we can get."

I sniffed, wiped the tear tracks off my face, and nodded. "You're right. Yeah, you're right. Is the ship ready?"

"Good as new," he replied with a grin. "Let's go wreak some havoc, shall we?"

At that moment, the central console beeped. Dustil hurried over. "Incoming transmission!" he called out. "It's the Republic. Father, you may want to hear this."

A hologram of the Republic Admiral Dodonna appeared on the console as Carth, Mission, Jolee, and T3 all entered the room.

_"This is Admiral Forn Dodonna to the Ebon Hawk, do you read us?"_

"Admiral, this is Carth Onasi," Carth stepped in as the only actual member of the military. "We are receiving your transmission."

"Carth, I'm glad to see you're still alive. We've begun our assault on the Star Forge but are taking heavy losses. How did the Sith ever manage to build something of this scope?"

"The Sith didn't build the Star Forge, Admiral," I cut in, being the only person in the room who actually had this information. "It's… a bit of a long story," I finished lamely.

"Maybe we should order our ships to pull back," the Admiral suggested. "We don't have the firepower to go up against this alien technology."

"You can't do that, Admiral," Carth replied instantly. "The Star Forge is the factory that's been churning out the Sith fleet. If we want to defeat the Sith, it has to be destroyed, or we'll be up against an endless wave of reinforcements."

"Then I suppose we have no choice. But it isn't going to be easy." The Admiral's voice was resigned. "We can't even get our capital ships in position to start bombarding the Star Forge. It's as if the enemy can guess our every move and counter our every strategy. They're too well organized."

"It's because of Bastila, Admiral," Carth admitted. "She's fallen to the Dark Side. We're almost certain she's on the Star Forge now, using her Battle Meditation against the Republic fleet."

Admiral Dodonna stepped to the side and another, much shorter hologram appeared next to her. "This is Master Vandar. A number of Jedi knights have joined the fleet under his command."

"If Bastila is using her power against the Republic, then Malak's fleet is invincible," he said. "Our only hope is to somehow stop her from using her Battle Meditation." He paused. "But where is Caeli Jayde?" He was looking to Carth, but he seemed dumbstruck by the reminder of Caeli's betrayal.

"She's… gone," I responded quietly, still unable to accept it. Fortunately, all the crying was out of my system. I did _not_ want to seem weak in front of the Admiral or the Jedi.

"Gone? She was lost?" Dodonna's eyebrows were raised in question.

"In… in a manner of speaking, yes. She… she left us… on Manaan. She took the data from the last Star Map and came here, leaving us to find it for ourselves. We… we didn't get here in time, she met Bastila, and Bastila…" I fell into silence, too horrified at what had happened to be able to say it.

"Bastila had fallen to the Dark Side," Jolee finished. "She convinced Caeli to join her."

"I failed…" I whispered, so quietly I didn't think anyone heard me.

"We're not entirely leaderless, though, Master Vandar." Carth spoke up for the first time since the mention of Caeli's name. "When Cael… when Caeli left, Athena helped us continue on so that we could find her and the Star Forge." He put a hand on my shoulder. I blinked back the tears in my eyes and looked at him. T3 beeped softly, seemingly in agreement with Carth.

"Me? But I—I don't even _know_ anything anymore, Carth!" I protested, all thought of the Admiral and the Jedi Master who were watching gone from my mind. "It's all different! Ever since she left us on Manaan… It changed! I don't know what's going to happen anymore, this wasn't a scenario that happened in the game!"

"Your knowledge isn't what's important, Athena," said Mission quietly.

"That's what I'm saying! You all could do it without me, I—"

"No, we couldn't" said Dustil. "That's the point. It's not your knowledge we want."

"It's _you,"_ Mission finished. "No matter _what_ happened in your game, we couldn't have done this without you! _That's_ why we need you. Not because you probably know the layout of the Star Forge, just like you knew the layout of everything else, but because you are _you._ And you _were_ a leader, even before Caeli left, and especially after. _You_ were the one who went out on the ocean floor to get that Star Map. _You_ were the one who fought off all those insane Selkath. _You_ were the one who got Jolee and Juhani into the Temple—"

"Which got Juhani killed, and Jolee nearly so!" I was very near hysterical. Sure, it sounded great, but I wasn't a leader. I had never been very into the leadership thing, preferring to be more of a backseat driver or navigator. Kind of an advisor, if you will. That was kind of what I'd been to Caeli, especially once she found out about my knowledge. But then she was gone, and no one knew what to do. All I knew: we had to go for the Star Map, or she would probably fall. But we were too late. She fell anyway.

"It was worth a try!" Mission countered.

"Stop it, both of you!" cried Carth. "You're fighting like teenage girls!"

We whirled on him simultaneously. "We _are_ teenage girls, Carth!" I snapped. Dustil looked like he was trying not to burst out laughing, which only made me more furious.

"All right," said Jolee, "that's enough. You may be teenage girls, but you need to stop acting like it if we're going to get anything done." I deflated slowly.

"He's right," I conceded at last. "We need to get going if we're going to stand a chance of saving Caeli. And we need to stop Bastila from using her Battle Meditation against the Republic."

"Good luck to you all," said Admiral Dodonna.

"May the Force be with you," added Master Vandar. They vanished, and I turned to the crew—what was left of it.

"We need a plan."

"Any ideas, O Great Leader?" asked Mission jokingly.

"Be serious, guys. Bastila and Caeli are trying to take over the galaxy here, and if we can't stop them, no one can. If we can't stop them, the galaxy is lost."

"So what do we do about it?" Mission asked impatiently.

"Obviously, we need to go to the Star Forge. It's pretty straightforward, all the forks lead to the same place. We'll probably run into Bastila first, as she'll be using her Battle Meditation in the Command Center. We'll probably have to fight her. Jolee… I think you should stay here. Keep an eye on the ship, and rest. You were almost killed an hour ago. And if anyone else gets wounded, we'll need you in decent shape."

"Whatever you say, lass. Do you think you'll be able to handle Bastila on your own?"

"I have to," I said. I didn't really even feel scared. It had to be done and I would do it.

"You've always got me," Dustil pointed out.

"I sure hope so, or I'd be screwed." I winked at Dustil, then turned to Mission. "Ready to fight some Sith?"

"Definitely!" She grinned, reminding me again that she was barely fifteen years old.

"Dustil?"

"Damn right I am! And about time, too!" I allowed myself a brief laugh before turning to his father.

"Carth?"

A haunted, desperate look entered his eyes. "For Caeli? Anything." My heart wrenched. His tone had reminded me of the scene from KOTOR 2, where he asks the Exile if he/she found any trace of Revan beyond the Outer Rim.

"We'll get her back, Carth." I knew it would be dangerous, it always was in Star Wars, but I continued anyway. He needed it right now. "I promise."

He simply nodded.

"Now, get us to that Star Forge before it's too late." He jerked out of his thoughts, nodded again, and headed for the cockpit. I followed.

I sat down in the copilot's seat, the seat that had so often been occupied by Bastila, and looked sideways at him, cautiously.

"Carth…" I ventured.

"What?"

"I'm sorry to sound callous or whatever, but I need you focused right now. We can't think about Caeli until we get there, it'll only distract us. I gave you my word we'd save her, and we will, but we need to be one hundred percent focused on the task at hand. Nothing in the past, nothing in the future. Please, Carth, I need your help. I can't do this alone. I don't even know if I can do it with all your help. But I have to try."

His vision seemed to clear. His eyes, which had seemed somewhat dazed and unfocused, still recovering from the shock of the betrayal up to this point, became focused.

"I'll help you, Athena," he said. "If this mission is the death of me, so be it. I would rather die than see anything bad happen to any of you."

"Especially Caeli," I finished quietly.

"Especially Caeli," he agreed. "I don't expect you to understand."

"I do, though. Creepy as it may sound, I've had plenty of time in my life to analyze your emotions, and those of all the other people in this… story, I suppose. Except for Caeli. That's all new to me. And you know what? She's a lot like me, now I think about it."

"I suppose I should find that creepy."

"Maybe. I was a strange kid." I laughed.

He _almost_ cracked a smile, which was a relief. I had been afraid that he'd just died inside when Caeli left. He'd been slowly getting more and more desperate, snapping at the crew more often, and shutting himself up in the cockpit for hours at a time. I was worried for him. I was worried that we wouldn't be able to save Caeli. I was worried he'd take that as a betrayal from me. I didn't want to betray Carth, intentionally or otherwise.

**A/N: Yay! Jolee's alive! I just couldn't bring myself to kill him, he's one of my favorites. Tell me what you think! (Oh, and sorry Valkyrie hasn't been in much of this, I wrote it all out of order, and most of this was written before she existed. She's still around, though, don't you worry). Review if you've got a second. Happy Tuesday! **

**-Athena**


	29. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer: Not mine. 'Nuff said. **

**A/N: Heyy I'm back. Not that I was actually gone for that long... anyway, here's the next chapter. We're boarding the Star Forge! Aaaahhh! Anyways, happy reading!**

Chapter Twenty-Eight

We left the planet at full speed, shooting through the atmosphere until we could see the Star Forge again. A small group of fighters hailed us, Jedi who were with Vandar and had been sent to help us. We fell into the formation and headed for the space station.

We docked with hardly any difficulties. We were shot at a few times, but our shields were still relatively undamaged when we landed. Carth, Mission, Dustil and I disembarked, stepping forward to meet the Jedi. I had the Neptune Spoon in hand, while Dustil had his lightsaber, Carth had his pistols, and Mission was armed with some kind of assault rifle. I stepped up to the woman who seemed to be the leader.

"We may not have as many troops to deal with as you might expect. Malak will be throwing everything he has at his enemies, but we're not the first, and he's much more interested in Revan. We'll certainly have a much easier time of it than she will.

"You lot should stay here and hold off the troops. The four of us will go in and take care of the problem. I'm hoping we'll come out alive."

"Good luck to you," the Jedi replied simply before turning to engage the group of Dark Jedi who had just emerged from the Forge.

"Come on," I ordered the rest of the group. We started forward into the bowels of the space station, and I confidently took the left fork.

"How do you know where we're going?" Mission asked curiously.

"All the forks end up at the same place," I told her. "It's just a matter of finding the right door when we get there."

After another couple minutes, we started finding droid parts every few feet.

"This is what's left of Malak's army," I informed my friends. "Well, one of his armies. His droid army. He thought the droids could deal with the Jedi… what he didn't know was that it was Revan."

"Does he find out?" It was Dustil who asked.

"Oh, yes. And then he sends out all his available troops. Not even they can stop her, but they can certainly slow her down. And if the game's on hard (in the game, of course, not here) it might take a few tries to get through it."

"But we don't have a few tries," Dustil pointed out.

"Nope. Nor does she." This was when I caught a glimpse of Carth's face. He was clearly worrying again, and it was distracting him. "Carth!" I snapped my fingers in front of his face. He flinched and looked at me. "Snap out of it! She'll be fine, you don't have to worry."

"What if—"

"Don't even go there, flyboy. Just don't. It doesn't do anyone any good."

Soon, the droid parts stopped and corpses littered the walkway: Sith soldiers, troopers, advanced troopers (the ones with red armor), apprentices, Dark Jedi, you name it. Mostly I was able to ignore them, though I must admit, the occasional sight of random severed limbs was more than a little disturbing. Occasionally there was a straggler, but we made quick work of them. I tried to view it as an act of mercy, because if they were alive, they usually weren't well. Revan had simply left them for dead. Still, I shivered involuntarily as I watched, with morbid curiosity, the life leaving the bodies of the Sith.

The maze of forks and walkways which all led to the same place seemed to be never-ending, but finally, we found ourselves at a door that seemed to have been heavily guarded by Dark Jedi.

"She's there," said Dustil. "Bastila. I wasn't around her much, but I know her presence, and she's there. This is it."

I nodded, my eyebrows creased in concern. "Mission, Carth, stay back. Give us cover fire if you think it can help, but don't try to get involved. This is our fight."

That said, I activated the door control and the entrance sprang open. A figure sat cross-legged in front of the holographic map of the area surrounding the Star Forge. She was glowing with blue light, and seemed to be deep in concentration.

As I watched, she tensed visibly before standing and turning towards us. Her face was paler than I'd ever seen it, and her eyes had lost their warmth. Coldness and darkness radiated from her.

"Bastila," I acknowledged her with a nod.

"Athena," she replied coldly. "I should have known you'd meddle where you didn't belong. I know you intend to sway Revan from the Dark Side, but you will have to pass me first. And here, the power of the Star Forge renews my energy, increases the power of the Dark Side in me! You have no chance of victory!" That said, she drew out her double-bladed lightsaber and twirled it menacingly.

In response, I raised the Neptune Spoon, and Dustil activated his lightsaber. We stood shoulder to shoulder facing the Dark Jedi.

With something of a battle cry, Bastila attacked, and with that, we were sent into the fight of our lives. She attacked with such ferocity that we hardly had a chance to defend ourselves, let alone get in a few attacks of our own. A couple minutes in, she put Mission and Carth in stasis with a wave of her hand, and Dustil and I were alone. Then, in a lull in the fighting, she pulled an unexpected and dirty trick. Instead of attacking us again, she flipped over my head, landing behind me, and struck Mission with her lightsaber. The world seemed to slow down as I screamed and charged at her, engaging her with such fury that she was distracted, giving Dustil time to get to Mission's side to assess the damage and try to heal her.

Fighting a double-bladed weapon alone is not as easy as it sometimes looks. It's almost as bad as fighting two enemies at once, and you have to be at least twice as fast as your opponent, something which I decidedly wasn't. Fortunately, Dustil rejoined the fight relatively quickly, so I wasn't sliced to ribbons.

"She's alive," he panted between blows, "but she's in bad shape. We need to get her back to the ship as soon as we can so Jolee can help her."

"You're still talking as though you're going to survive this encounter," Bastila remarked as though commenting on the weather, but with such a snide tone of voice that I had to check to make sure it was really her speaking. She had changed so much since the Leviathan, it was almost impossible to recognize her as the preachy Jedi who was assigned to help Revan.

"I don't want to kill you, Bastila," I told her.

"Unfortunately, I do not share your sentiment. I shall do my duty to my master, part of which is protecting her from external threats." The meaning in these last words was all too clear.

"That, however, means you think we _are_ a threat, which means there's hope," I pointed out. She kept a façade of calm, practicing her Jedi emotional neutrality (subconsciously, I was sure: she wouldn't be caught dead using Jedi techniques now). "Bastila," I tried again, "surely you realize what Malak did to you? He fabricated circumstances so that you would fall to the Dark Side! The Dark Side was never truly yours to begin with. It was just a creation of Malak's in your mind, something you thought you were embracing willingly, but he was actually forcing it on you. I'm not making any sense, am I?" I asked as she paused the battle to give me a confused look.

"None whatsoever," she confirmed, and we continued to duel. After a bit more fighting, Dustil managed to cut off one end of her saber, so she was stuck with a single blade, fighting two of us. At this point, it was only a matter of time before we overcame her.

But she wasn't entirely helpless. Moments after Dustil's success, I felt myself flying backwards, still somehow managing to writhe in agony as I was struck by Force Lightning. And let me tell you, it was not comfortable. I was in more pain than I had ever been before, except perhaps for the instant before I was transported from my world into KotOR. And then, just as suddenly as it had started, it was gone. I lay on the floor for several seconds, trying to regain my breath. When I could breathe, I pushed myself up, lifting the Neptune Spoon, and charged with a rage I didn't know I possessed. Thoughts flooded my mind: thoughts of everything Bastila had done wrong warring with everything she had done right. I could almost literally hear the angel on one shoulder telling me to try to save her, that she deserved a second chance and the devil on the other shoulder, telling me that she deserved to die, that she had done so much evil and she could only get worse, that the galaxy would be better off without her. And each one was screaming.

Somehow amidst my rage, I managed to knock her over (or maybe Dustil did, I'll never be sure) and her lightsaber went skidding across the floor of the Forge. I placed my sword at her throat.

"Make one move and you're a dead woman," I growled. "And don't think I won't do it just because I'm usually a nice person. You've done plenty to deserve it."

"You really would," she mused. "It's a shame you're not Force-sensitive, you'd make an excellent Dark Jedi." I applied pressure to the sword at her throat, and she coughed. "I speak only the truth," she coughed out, "it is you who is too afraid to accept it." As she spoke, however, I saw her hand inching outwards, reaching towards the lightsaber, which was starting to wiggle…

"_No_!" I screamed, and through some figment of my subconscious mind, some remnant of the devil on my shoulder, flames leaped down the blade of my sword, blazing white-hot as they came into contact with Bastila's form. She shrieked, and I flinched, but the fire remained. The part of me that was screaming in protest was overcome by the part that wanted her to suffer for all she had done, the part that was taking a morbid pleasure in hearing her screams. And then, just as suddenly, she fell silent. The flames died. And I fell to my knees on the floor of the Star Forge, tears pouring down my face, sobs racking my body. "_What have I done?"_ My sword fell uselessly to the ground beside me, but there was no longer an enemy to defend myself from. _Or to murder in cold blood,_ my conscience added.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. Dustil. "Athena," he whispered. "I know this is difficult. But we have to finish the mission. And speaking of Mission…" He looked over my shoulder as I peered up at him through tear-filled eyes. I still couldn't bring myself to look at Bastila. "She's alive, but she's in a bad way. Father's taking her back to the _Hawk._ It's just the two of us."

I continued to sob uncontrollably. "Athena," he said sharply. "Get a hold of yourself. This is war. In war, certain distasteful acts—"

I was suddenly angry. "Oh, save the speech, I've heard it before. Certain distasteful acts cannot be avoided, blah, blah, blah. Well, guess what? That _could_ have been avoided! That wasn't _war,_ that was _murder!_ And a part of me _enjoyed_ it! It makes me sick to think of it."

"Look," Dustil changed tactics desperately, "we can deal with the moral repercussions later, but we _have_ to get to Caeli! If we don't, thousands of people will die!"

That cleared my head, if nothing else. I blinked back the tears, wiped my eyes on my sleeve, and nodded. "We have to get her back to Carth," I told him. "He's really the only hope of turning her back. It was his words that started this whole fiasco, maybe his words can fix the problem, or at least begin to fix it."

"All right. It's all we've got, and we'd better hope it works." He paused. "You ready?"

I took a deep, shuddering breath and let it out slowly. "As I'll ever be. Let's go."

As we made for the door, however, I stopped and turned one last time. It had to be done. I forced my eyes to the ground where Bastila lay. I emitted a gasp of horror and my knees almost gave out again. Her flesh was blackened and burned, charred by the fire, her mouth open in a scream doomed to be forever silent. I could feel the prickling behind my eyes as tears returned. _I had done this. _

Even as I prepared myself to leave her in my past, a glint of silver caught my eyes. Much as her corpse repelled me, I was inexplicably drawn to the gleam. As I saw what it was, I almost laughed out loud. Much as Bastila had preached that a Jedi did not need material possessions, a necklace was clasped around her neck, a silver crescent moon. She had hid it well: had my fire not burned away the neck of her robes, I would never have seen it. I picked it up, shivering as my hand touched her charred flesh, and flipped it over. The inscription brought fresh tears to my eyes.

_For my dearest Bastila_

_Love always, Father _

Her father. The only person she had ever truly allowed herself to love. And here before my eyes was proof that she had cherished that love to the bitter end. She could never have been wholly evil with that love burning within her.

I clenched the necklace in my hand, until, after a moment's hesitation, clasping it around my own neck; not as a trophy, but as a reminder. A reminder that everyone, no matter how dark, has hope for redemption. With that, I turned my back on Bastila Shan and strode from the room.

Dustil followed me hurriedly, apparently surprised by my sudden departure.

"What was that about?" he wondered aloud.

"Penance," I replied shortly.

"But—"

I whirled on him. "I have to do this, Dustil. You—you wouldn't understand."

He wisely chose to remain silent as we continued into a room full of destroyed droids: the remains of the spider-like Forge droids.

"She's been here," I whispered. "Just through the door at the end—" I indicated it by pointing, "—is the elevator to the factory. That's where Malak is. Was," I corrected myself as the aforementioned door sprang open and a robed figure stepped out. Cold eyes met mine. "Dustil," I said quietly, not breaking eye contact, "go get your father, please. I need to speak with the newly reinstated Dark Lord."

**A/N: Bit of a cliffie for you there. Sorry I killed off Bastila, but it had to be done. By this time, the story was writing itself, and killing her off was the only viable option. Hope you enjoyed! I'll have the next chapter up by Friday at the latest. Review if you've got a second! They make my world go round! Love you all! Have a great day! I'm using too many exclamation points! Bye!**

**-Athena**


	30. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer: I say it every time. Don't own this stuff. **

**A/N: So we've killed Bastila, and now we have to save Caeli. Sounds like fun, right? So without further ado, here's the second to last chapter! Happy reading!**

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I could almost sense Dustil's nod as he left the room, the door snapping shut behind him. The figure began to circle around me, Revan's robes swirling around her feet, curly red hair falling around her shoulders, eyeing me warily.

"What sort of trick is this?" she demanded. "Do you intend to fight me on your own? Or do you have more friends waiting to ambush me?"

"If I had planned an ambush, you would know about it," I pointed out. "It's not a trick. I don't intend to fight you at all." As evidence of this, I dropped my sword, stepping away from it.

"Then you are a fool," she said matter-of-factly, though she didn't sound quite as confident as she had a moment ago. "And you will die."

"I don't think so," I countered quietly. "You're not evil, no matter how much you might like to think otherwise. You won't strike down a defenseless opponent, especially not one you once called friend."

"You underestimate me," she growled under her breath.

"Do I?" I challenged. "You didn't want to kill Mission. You asked her to join you, and when Bastila tried to kill us, you called her off. You're not fully evil. The Caeli Jayde I know is still alive in there, fighting."

I had said the wrong thing. "Caeli Jayde is a _lie!_" Revan all but screamed. "A lie, fabricated by the Jedi Council to gain control of me. But they failed. Do you dare to dispute that?"

"No, you're right," I agreed. "The Council never had control of you. Caeli, however, has become real. _You_ created her. Think of all the good you've done, all the people you saved! Would Revan have done that? No. And it's not like the Council could control you. All they did was wipe your mind. You had control of who Caeli became, whether she was good or evil, and she was overwhelmingly good!" Tears which had yet to fall threatened to escape again. "And she's alive, I know she is. Revan… you don't have to be Revan, you can—"

Caeli tensed, eyes fixed on the door. Following her gaze, I turned my head as the door opened. As expected, Carth was standing there. His face, however, clearly wasn't what Caeli had expected. It wasn't angry, seeking revenge for a betrayal, it was sad, so filled with regret and longing that one of my captive tears escaped its prison. For a moment, Caeli looked almost taken aback before her face hardened again into a mask of anger.

"So you killed Darth Malak." Carth broke the silence as it stretched to the point of awkwardness. Somehow, I—I always knew you would."

"What do you want?" she snapped defensively. "Come to yell at me a bit more? Wanting to prove you were right about me betraying you the whole time?"

"You didn't betray me, Caeli," Carth said, so quietly I could barely hear him. "I betrayed you."

My jaw dropped.

"What the hell does that mean?" Caeli looked stunned for a moment before, with a minor shake of the head, her mask of indifference returned.

"I made you a promise," said Carth, "and I turned on you when you needed me the most. I never thought through what you were going through at the time, or what it would feel like to lose you. So, uh, I think it's time we talked. About you… being Revan."

"We've talked about that plenty, thanks," Caeli snapped. "You should have stayed away."

"And abandon you? No, I couldn't have done that."

Caeli snorted skeptically. "Then why did you do it before?"

"Look, I know I betrayed you, and, uh, for what it's worth, I'm sorry. And I know that will never make up for what I did, but all I'm asking now is that you listen to me. Just one last time, and then you can do whatever you want to me. Please."

Caeli glared at him for several seconds before her gaze softened fractionally. "Speak," she ordered.

Carth took a deep breath. "I can't hate you." Caeli's eyes widened. "I tried," Carth continued. "I wanted to hold you responsible for all the things Revan did: for Telos, for Morgana and Dustil. But I can't."

Caeli snorted disbelievingly. "You sure didn't have a problem with it after the _Leviathan._ What the hell changed your mind?"

Carth took another deep breath. As difficult as it was for him, he knew as well as I did that if there was going to be hope for Caeli, he'd have to play all his cards. "I love you," he admitted finally. "Even now, even after everything you and—and Revan have done. I—I love you like I haven't loved anything or anyone since my wife died and I didn't even think that was possible. I didn't even think I _could_ love anymore. But you changed that. You taught me to live again, to love and trust, and… I love you. You may not love me, you may not love anything anymore now that you've gone over to the Dark side, but I believe that there's still some part of you that I can reach. There's a part of you that believes in hope, and—and mercy, and love.

"I promised to protect you. If that means I have to protect you from yourself, I'll do it. I just—I abandoned you once, and look what happened! I swear, never again. Come back to me, Caeli. Please, come back. I swear to you I will love you till my dying breath, which is looking like it may come very soon. But—"

"Carth," Caeli's voice was quiet, but there was a hint of a sob in it. My head snapped around to look at her, cracking my neck. I'd been so focused on Carth that I'd forgotten to watch her reaction. But now… He'd bared his soul to her, and she knew it. Tears were shining in her eyes, no longer the sickly yellow of the Dark side, but returned to their normal soft shade of gray. As I watched, one of the tears escaped her eyes, followed by another and another. Her shoulders were shaking from expertly suppressed sobs. "What have I done?"

Carth apparently had no verbal answer to this. He simply stepped forward and put his arms around her. As soon as he did, the dam broke, and Caeli sobbed uncontrollably into his shoulder, Carth whispering gentle words I couldn't understand.

_This proves the Jedi are wrong about love,_ I thought to myself. _I never could have done this without Carth. _

Unfortunately, that was when I remembered where we were and what I had done several minutes ago. Flinching as though I had been shocked, I tentatively approached Caeli and Carth. "Um, guys?" They broke apart and looked at me. "Hate to break this up, but we're still on the Star Forge. With Bastila dead, the Republic should be able to get into bombardment position to destroy this thing. We need to get out of here as soon as possible."

But Caeli stepped back, shaking her head. "I… I can't. I'm staying here."

**A/N: So, what's that about, eh? You'll have to wait and see. I'll probably update tomorrow, but I've got some stuff going on so it might not be till Sunday. Reviews will motivate me, so review if you've got a second! You're all wonderful and I extend an imaginary hug to all of you! Have a great rest of your day! **

**-Athena**


	31. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer: Still don't own it. Not even now. **

**A/N: Last chapter guys! May I just say, thanks to everyone who's reviewed/everything else! It makes me feel so wonderful and fuzzy inside! Since I left you on a bit of a cliffie last time I'll let you get to the chapter! Happy reading!**

Chapter Thirty

_"We're still on the Star Forge. With Bastila dead, the Republic should be able to get into bombardment position to destroy this thing. We need to get out of here as soon as possible." _

_But Caeli stepped back, shaking her head. "I… I can't. I'm staying here." _

Carth's head snapped up. "What? Why? You're not evil, you—you came back from the Dark side! You don't have to die, you—you can't!"

Caeli turned to him, her expression agonized. "Revan wasn't supposed to survive this, Carth," she said sadly. "The reason they sent me on this mission aside from my memories was so that if I died, it wouldn't be a great loss. They'd be rid of another potential threat without raising a finger against me. I'm sorry, Carth, but I'm meant to be dead. You have to leave me behind." A tear dropped from her eye as she said it.

Carth's face hardened with determination at her words. "Never. I swore I'd never abandon you again, and I intend to keep that promise. I'm staying too."

She shook her head. "This is something I have to do alone, Carth. You have a life, things you love, something to go back to. I have nothing."

Carth shook his head. "I _had_ a life. The military was my purpose, killing Saul for revenge was my motive. Then he was dead, and all I had left was you. I can't go back to that life now, it hurts too much to even imagine a galaxy without you in it. No, there's no place I'd rather be than here."

"Carth—"

"Stop it, both of you!" I exclaimed in exasperation. "This is ridiculous. Caeli, you said they wanted Revan dead? Guess who just died when you came back from the Dark side? You're not evil and you don't have to die. Look, I know you think you've got some great darkness in you, but you're no more dark than Juhani was."

"And she's dead because of me!"

"We could argue for hours about whose fault that was, but that's not the point and we don't have hours. My point is, you only fell because you were lost, confused, and alone, confronted with peer pressure, no doubt through your bond with Bastila. You've just been saved by a stronger bond than anything in the Force: the bond of love. Come on, Cael, you're a hero! You killed Malak, you broke the Sith! How can you possibly think they want you dead?"

"Because I am Revan, and no matter how light I am, that will never change."

"But you're _not_ Revan, that's the thing. No matter what part of her is inside you, it isn't who you are. You've chosen a different path. Anyone who's ever met you can tell that. Please, Caeli, come with us."

"Please, Caeli," Carth pleaded quietly.

"I—all right. For you. For all of you. But don't be surprised if the Council isn't happy about it."

"If they complain, I'll need a word with them," I muttered. "Right now, we need to get out." I turned, grabbing Caeli by the wrist, picked up my sword from where I'd dropped it, and ran back through the Star Forge, Carth following closely behind.

We arrived back at the _Hawk_ with no time to celebrate. The ground beneath our feet was already starting to shake from the bombardment as Dustil greeted us, so we hurried into the ship and Carth took the pilot's seat from Canderous, who had been preparing for takeoff in the pilot's absence. Caeli had contacted the rest of the crew and told them to meet us at the _Hawk._ Canderous didn't really care either way, Zaalbar was ecstatic (if a Wookiee can ever be ecstatic) to be reunited with Mission, and HK was sulking in the garage.

Carth, skilled as he was, managed to get us out in one piece in time to avoid most of the explosion. The ship still shook rather violently as the shockwave hit us, though, and I went flying across the room again, bruising my hip. As I righted myself, Carth brought us back under control and, after a brief conversation with the Admiral, took us in to land on the planet below, where we were greeted with something of an honor guard.

I figured out relatively quickly that the Admiral had not disclosed to the general public that Revan was there, nor that she had turned to the Dark side mere hours ago. She was introduced everywhere as Caeli Jayde, and, particularly since her rant about how Caeli was a lie, she seemed to have remarkably little problem with it. In the meantime, we were led to the stone ramp which marked the entrance to the Temple. They lined us up and gave us the Cross of Glory, the highest honor the Republic can bestow, blah, blah, blah. The Jedi, too (Master Vandar, actually) said a little piece about how wonderful we were, the crowd cheered, and we discovered that there was food. All thought of the fact that I was now a hero of the Republic vanished from my mind as I realized I hadn't eaten since shortly before we landed on the Unknown World. I attacked the refreshments with the sort of savage ferocity one might expect from a Wookiee.

However, I grew bored relatively quickly. Being a hero isn't all it's cracked up to be. People kept coming up to me, introducing themselves, congratulating me, asking for my autograph, et cetera. I wandered off in the direction of the Central Beach, seeking a bit of solitude. As I emerged onto the vantage point that overlooked the beach (the best view on the planet, in my opinion), I discovered my solitude was not to be had, and that my idea was far from original. Caeli and Carth were down on the beach, Caeli laughing as she tugged Carth into the waves by his hand, using the Force to splash water on him. _Some peace at last,_ I thought.

_What was that?_ A black-and-silver shadow swooped down and gripped my shoulder in her talons.

_Valkyrie, you have the worst timing— _

_Oh, come on, you're glad to see me. _

_Oh, fine. Good to see you. How was staying in the ship while I was gone?_

_Well, I managed to do some good for once—I helped Jolee heal Mission. _

_Brilliant bird. I knew you had it in you. _

_Hey!_

_That was a compliment, _di'kut_. _

She mentally rolled her eyes. _Whatever. I'll talk to you later, Sapphire. _Valkyrie took off, whacking me in the face with her wing in the process, and flew in the direction of the party. I sighed, returning my attention to the view. This time, I managed almost a full two minutes of gorgeous silence before I was interrupted.

"Your plan worked, I see," said a voice behind me.

"Which plan would that be?" I asked without turning around. I knew the voice well enough by now that I didn't need to.

"The plan that involved saving Caeli from the dark side and getting her together with my father in one fell swoop," Dustil informed me. His voice was far from accusatory, simply conversational.

"Ah, yes, that one." I finally turned to look at him. "It _was_ rather brilliant, wasn't it?"

He rolled his eyes but didn't comment. "Athena," he said after a moment, "what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Well, we may have accomplished our mission, but… you're still a long way from home."

I sighed. "I guess I'll have to talk to the Council about that. They did say they'd try to help me when the time came, and if they can't… I guess I'll just have to make do with living here. Not that it's not great or anything, it's just… hard to… to think that I might never see my family or my friends or that one tree on campus we all liked to climb, or—well, you get the picture."

"Yeah." An awkward pause. "You know, I—I'm here if, uh, if you need anything."

I chuckled. "You're as bad at this as your dad. But thanks. I appreciate it. If I really can't go back, I'm going to need all the help I can get. But for now… let's just enjoy the moment, shall we?"

He nodded in agreement, and after a moment's hesitation, reached out and took my hand, squeezing it gently. I smiled as I looked down at the beach, watching Caeli and Carth. I could be happy here, I thought. Maybe one day, I would go back. But today, I was here, and here would have to be enough.

The End

**A/N: Sorry the end was kinda cheesy, I'm horrible at endings. Hope you enjoyed! Review if you've got a second! Love you all!**

**Now, on to the serious stuff. I have written a sequel. It doesn't exactly follow Athena-she's mentioned several times, but she's only actually in one chapter. Instead, it follows Mission and a couple of my other OCs trying to find Revan and such (Athena goes with Revan, you'll see why). Here's the question: would you rather have the second one sooner (I'll wait at least a week, might be longer) and have to wait indefinitely for the third one (I'm having serious writers' block at the moment) or wait a bit on the second one and not have to wait as long for the third? There's a bit of a cliffie at the end of the second one, just warning you. Let me know what you think! (Also warning you, I wrote the second one before I wrote the first one so it might not be as good. i write everything out of order.) Anyway, let me know! You are some fantastic readers! Truly a blessing! See you all soon in book 2: The Messenger God!**

**Love to you all,**

**-Athena Sapphire**


	32. Book 2 is up!

Hi! Just so you all know, Book 2, The Messenger God, is (finally) up! Details on my posting schedule are in the Author's note for the first chapter! Thank you all so much for being patient with me!


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